


Iron And Wine

by VoicesWithFears



Category: Henry Stickman (Video Games), Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: CHEF KISS, Hurts So Good, I loved this rp, M/M, RP, RPS - Freeform, like the angst, so did toon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26577757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoicesWithFears/pseuds/VoicesWithFears
Summary: An RP I did with ToonTopaz.
Relationships: Charles Calvin & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 84





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> We did this as an RP. so there will be switching back and forth. For context, Toon starts off this legendary RP

"No way..."  
Charles held an expression of shock and a little bit of awe. He couldn't believe his eyes.

The mission he'd been assigned was to take down the new Toppat leader. Simple enough right? According to rumors, the previous leader has been killed along with basically everyone in their airship division. Apparently, the person responsible had taken over as the new head. But...  
"How are you alive ?" asked Charles in disbelief, standing next to the wreckage of his crashed helicopter. This couldn't be real.

Henry Stickmin.

"The...Uhm, the report said the Toppat leader was killed... I thought that was you!" he accused, trying to make sense of it all. He hadn't even recognized him at first, when he made the decision to crash into him, because of all the cybernetics he had. And yet, underneath all that metal and scars, was indeed the very same Henry who he had helped get aboard the airship, and the same who had double-crossed him and General Galeforce when it counted.

"I... I don't get it... how ?"

.

Henry turned his head upwards, the metallic spine holding his already broken body together screeching slightly. He wasn't expecting a military pilot to crash into him, let alone it being a pilot he recognized first hand. Charles Calvin, age 28, a pilot for the military under General Galeforce. His reading up on the military files told him that much, but Henry knew more. He was the pilot that flew him into the airship. The mission that he was forced into, the mission he didn't agree upon.

He tilted his head, his bionic eye flickering. He thought it would be obvious. The files on record clearly stated that he was rebuilt from his fall from the snowy waters from The Wall. It may have not stated who, but that was already under wraps. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien was already taken back in, and her name was scrubbed from his records. That didn't stop Henry from speaking, his vocal cords rebuilt, scratching even more than before.

" Charles. Calvin. "

.  
Charles couldn't let his shock distract him from his mission. Whatever happened, happened in the past, and they were completely different people than they once were.  
Charles took a deep breath, unsheathing his gun from his belt and pointed it at Henry.

"Yeah, that's my name alright," he said, his voice shaking slightly (man those cybernetics were kinda intimidating up close), "listen, man, I don't want either of us to get hurt more than we need to, so uh...just make it easier on yourself and surrender."  
He knew that approach had very slim chances of working, but it was worth a shot.

.  
Henry wouldn't surrender. What was he thinking he would do? Walk over, hold up his hands, and it would be all over? No more Toppats just because he had a pair of cuffs on? He could easily snap them apart, or even force them onto him. 

Henry took a step forward, testing Charles reaction. His top hat fell off, the breeze finally catching onto it, revealing the area on his head where it was covered in a metal plate, all scratched up from the heists he did.

Then, another. 

Henry felt himself smile. Oh, how he loved cornering people like this. Robbing banks and missions always gave him that sense of adrenaline he missed soo much from being human, but this? This feeling was addicting.

.

Charles took a couple of steps back, but tried to force himself to stand his ground. He did not remember Henry being this threatening back then, he was just some fairly scrawny dude with a big reputation. Now though.  
Charles’ eyes moved up and down Henry’s body, taking in every detail of his cybernetics. He sure looked dangerous alright, almost like he could snap him like a twig. Charles didn’t want to think about that. 

“If...look, if you don’t put your hands up, I’m gonna have to shoot you man. D-don’t make me...don’t make me do something we’ll both regret...” he stammered, the hands holding the gun getting extremely sweaty all of a sudden. He hovered his finger over the trigger to emphasize his point. He was trying his hardest to look brave, but Henry’s menacing aura was throwing him off, he wasn’t used to it.

.

Henry actually paused as Charles placed his finger on the trigger. Sure, he would survive it, but the doctor would nag him, and he would need to get that area stitched up, or replaced. And Henry really didn't wish for another earful. But, as Henry looked over at the pilot, sweating, shaking, and stammering nearly every word, Henry's mind sparked up. 

He wasn't named one of the best pilots in the military for no reason, despite his age. He exceeded expectations in dangerous situations, not to mention he was loyal to them.

And loyalty brought information. 

" Charles. " Henry drawled out, his accent scraping out from his throat. " You wouldn't shoot me. " He took a few steps forward, now getting quite close to the short military pilot. " You couldn't. "

.

What Charles couldn’t understand was why the hell he was hit by such a wave of fear at Henry’s words. He definitely had some sort of advantage, he was pointing a gun at his head, right ?  
And yet, Henry was right. He wouldn’t admit it, but Charles couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. Normally he didn’t have any issues killing bad guys if it fell under orders, but for whatever reason, Henry was different.  
C’mon Charles, just do it. It’s easy, pull the trigger, shoot him, and complete your mission, he told himself mentally.  
He could no longer suppress the shaking in his hands. As Henry stepped closer, he lowered the gun.  
What are you doing you useless moron ?! his thoughts all collectively screamed at him.  
“I...”  
He aimed the gun again, this time with much less conviction.  
“Y-you don’t know that.”

.

Henry reached out, getting Charles's hand holding the gun, then slowly pulled it up to his head. Thankfully, his hair still covered up where there was a metal plate. He wasn't planning on Charles to fire, but he wasn't going to let him shoot his brains out. Last time that happened, it wasn't fun. 

The gun was now aimed at his head. Henry gave out a metal smile.

" Well then, take the shot, little pilot. I'm right here. Shoot me, and you take down the Toppat clan. "

He chuckled. Oh, this is too cute. Maybe he should take the little pilot in as a pet. He could help out with soo much. Planning, leverage against the government... He was glad he got his metallic arm rewired. It came useful in fights... as well as the one soon to come.

.

Charles just stared at Henry, confused. Indecision tore at his mind, did he take the shot or was he a coward? Did Henry just have inhuman confidence, banking on him not pulling the trigger... or did he have a trick up his sleeve ?  
How much of him was made of metal, and would a bullet at point-blank even do anything ?  
Charles had never felt more helpless, no matter what he did he was playing right into Henry’s hands.  
Oh man, this sucks... he thought, as he tried to wrap his head around what he should do next. He didn’t dare say anything as his throat was already locking up, anything he tried to say would come out all squeaky.  
What do I do???

.  
" . . . I see that I was right. " Henry pulled away, but kept his hand around Charles's wrist. " Too bad, you would have gotten a clean shot. " 

Henry suddenly grabbed Charles's waist, tightly. One of his arms now pinned to his side, the other one still holding onto the gun. He laughed. 

" Goodnight, Charles. "

Henry swung himself backward, and threw Charles against the concrete wall of the base, still standing from the earlier crash. That still didn't stop the wall cracking a bit as the pilots back hit it with a loud thud.

.  
A sharp pain shot through Charles’ spine as he hit the wall, and he choked out a strained yell. He fell to the ground, coughing from the shock that the impact caused his lungs. Crawling onto all fours, he reached for the gun he’d just dropped.  
“Okay...fine,” he muttered, Henry’s attack having finally brought him back to his senses. Leaping off the ground, with a considerable amount of pain nonetheless, he shot his gun a few times, aiming a little sloppily in Henry’s direction, and then went in for a punch.  
.  
Henry simply stood there, turning slightly to not get hit by the bullets. But as Charles went in for a punch, Henry didn’t get out of the way in time. The punch hit him hard, and he stumbled back. He held up his hand to his nose, a trickle of red blood starting to leak down his face. 

He smiled. 

Wide. 

“ Oh, you’re going to be fun “ 

Swinging his own robotic arm, he aimed at Charles. But not his face. No... not yet. His arm sunk into Charles’s own arm, as he grabbed it. Pulling him down to the ground, he let go, and took a step back to pull out a handkerchief to wipe his face from the blood. 

“ Charles, Charles, Charles.... you’re lucky I don’t want to hurt that pretty little face of yours. If we send a video of you all bruised up, they’ll get all huffed up! “

.  
Charles scrambled to his feet, the adrenaline that was always brought on by fights like these kicking in. Henry's condescending tone actually pissed him off quite a bit.  
"Don't talk to me like that you BASTARD !" he yelled, aiming another punch at Henry's stomach.  
As the thrill of a fight took over, immediately after hitting that stomach punch, Charles put his other hand on the ground and hoisted himself up, kicking hard at Henry's face. He honestly felt really cool doing that, and he yelled defiantly :  
"YOUR face ain't gonna come outta this unharmed anyway !"  
.  
Henry coughed. Charles may have been tiny, but man he packs a punch. But despite all this, he just laughed. His arm, rocketing out, grabbed Charles by the leg. The grip was tight, and he tugged his leg down, making Charles slip down, and fall onto his back. And suddenly....  
" Oh Charles, you really are adorable. "  
Charles was on his back, yes. But Henry... Henry was sitting on top of him, his still human, and his robotic one were on either side of Charles's sides.  
.  
A whole bunch of stuff happened really fast, and Charles suddenly found himself lying on his back, with Henry on top of him. The pilot just sorta looked up in shock, unsure of what to think, and he couldn't help but notice the position they found themselves in was rather...intimate. Charles tried to ignore the spontaneous gay thoughts and squirmed aggressively, trying to escape without much success, Henry definitely had a firm grasp. He tried to push him off, again to no avail. While normally he was quite strong, his military training hadn't gone to waste, Henry's metal body just refused to budge.  
"Damn it..." he muttered, balling his hand into a fist and going for an upward punch  
.  
Henry sighed as he caught Charles fist in his hand. He was surprised he wasn't getting tired yet. But then, the military never went easy on their recruits. pulling on his tie, it slipped off from around his neck as he got a loop started around Charles's wrist. He had to get him knocked out, or at least turned around, and he didn't wish to do it as they were both on the ground. Placing a hand up to the side of his head, he dialed up one of the toppat recruits. 

" I've apprehended the pilot who crashed by the base. Send someone down here to help me take care of him. "

Looking back down to stare into Charles's eyes, he frowned, holding up his tie, pulling up one of Charles's arms with it. 

" Do you wish to continue this game? Or shall we go for another round? "

.

Charles really didn't want to give up now, this was an important mission he'd been given, and yet, it's not like he could do anything more. Henry clearly outmatched him, no doubt due to his augmentations in part, and he was just very capable in general.  
Charles glared up at Henry, refusing to admit defeat out loud, but knowing that continuing to try and fight would be fruitless. He clenched his fists, obviously frustrated and upset that he'd lost, and the dying adrenaline left him with a sinking feeling in his stomach.  
What would happen to him now? If he even survived to go back to the base, he'd surely be punished for his failure, and even then the chances he'd even make it back were slim to none. He sighed, looking away.  
"Shut up..." he muttered bitterly.

. 

Henry stood up, pulling Charles up by the tie still around his wrist. Grabbing his other arm, which was already a struggle, Henry went around him and wrapped the other end of the fabric around the other pilot's wrist. After making sure it was relatively tight, he paused. wrapping his arms around Charles, he held up his robotic arm to rest right under Charles's chin.

" You know... you would make a great Toppat. Why don't you leave those weaklings behind and be with the big boys? "

\-----  
“Join...the Toppats...” repeated Charles in disbelief, glaring at Henry. He struggled against the fabric binding his hands, but that thing was tied surprisingly tightly. Once the request sunk in, Charles let out a laugh.  
“Hah! You really think I’m just gonna drop everything and join your pathetic band of crooks ?” he jeered, grinning defiantly, “you really are an idiot if you think I’d even consider it.”

\-----  
Henry frowned, then swiftly moved his hands around Charles’s waistline, and lifted him up over his metal shoulder. Despite his strength, Charles was still a bit heavy for him. That didn’t bother him though. Taking one last look at the burning helicopter, he started to make his way over to the base. He was lucky he wasn’t that far away from the exit. If he wasn’t he would have to deploy his wings. And why should he waste a perfectly good suit just for a little scuffle?

\-----

“Hey- whoa !” he exclaimed as Henry picked him up, seemingly without much effort. Just because he’d lost the fight didn’t mean he was just gonna comply and accept his fate. No, this stubborn little pilot was at least gonna make himself as inconvenient and uncooperative as possible.  
He kicked his legs wildly, hoping to maybe hit some part of Henry, or at least be really annoying to carry.

\-----  
Henry grumbled as the pilot fruitlessly tried to struggle against his grip. He wouldn’t get out... hopefully, but his constant kicking was truly making him second guess taking him in. 

“ Keep that up, and you’ll find yourself with two more broken legs. Like I said, we don’t want to hurt your pretty little face for the show. “

He could see the door now. A bit of relief washed over Henry, as soon he could toss the little troublemaker into one of the cells, and he could get cleaned off.

\-----  
Despite his stubbornness, the idea of having both his legs broken definitely made Charles reconsider his current course of action. He stopped his flailing about, valuing his own limbs over his petty rebellion, although he did express his frustration with a few angry grunts.  
"What...what show? What the hell does that mean ?" he asked, unable to hide his curiosity.

\-----  
As Henry approached the doors, the recruit he called over almost half an hour ago finally opened up the doors. As they tried to walk out, they froze, seeing Henry, and Charles over his shoulder. Henry simply scowled, and motioned him to get out of the way. They did, and Henry finally made his way into the building. The hallways were fixed up, a smooth white with a colored stripe down the lower center. Turning to the left, Henry started to make a few turns here and there, momentarily readjusting his grip on Charles. All the while, he was still talking to the now captured pilot.

" Well, of course, the show! The show where you get all nice and cleaned up, plopped down in front of a camera, and get a nice recording of you screaming as we do whatever we want to you. We'll make sure we don't kill you, of course, but you may be on the edge of that. I know many of my recruits that would love to take a shot at you. You always get in the way of our ventures. You even took some away from us. "

Henry finally arrives at a door, this one visibly reinforced just a bit more than the other doors within the building. A small pad, where Henry placed his hand, and the lock clicked, allowing Henry to pull the door open. Inside, was a single cell.

" I'm sure that you would help us get them back, won't you? "

And with that, Henry threw Charles down on the ground of the cell, closed the cell door, and left the room, the door locking behind him with a loud click.

\-----  
Riiight... of course he was talking about a ransom video. What else would it be?  
He yelped from the impact of hitting the floor, scrambling into a sitting position, which proved difficult with his hands tied behind his back.  
When the door shut, he could feel the fight leaving his body, despite how hard he tried to hold onto his anger. He was just left with a sensation of dread and the crushing realization of his own failure.  
He scooted up to the wall and leaned against it, staring at the floor. He sighed sadly. How had he lost so quickly? While he knew reasonably that it was just Henry’s enhanced abilities, there was a persistent feeling of personal failure attached.

He should have pulled the trigger when he had the chance.

\-----  
It was a while until Henry returned to the cellblock where Charles was being held. After returning back to his own personal quarters, he shrugged off his dress shirt, now completely ripped and torn to shreds. His body was relatively unharmed, except for a few bruises here and there. His nose wasn't fairing that well, the blood drying, the nose now very bruised. He didn't mind. The video would allow him to be hidden in the dark. They shouldn't hold hope that they harmed the Leader.. not just yet. He could just go after one of the other female recruits to cover it up with their makeup... 

Now, with a fresh outfit, and his nose now covered up. He made his way back to the cells. He did hope that tossing Charles into the cell wouldn't have bruised his face. He didn't remove the tie before he left, but he assumed it was still on, or that Charles somehow got out. 

. . . He probably did

\-----  
After maybe half an hour of wallowing in shame and self-pity (it might have been longer, he couldn’t tell), Charles made a decision. He decided that no, he was not gonna take this lying down! After all, he hadn’t been the youngest veteran pilot on the force for nothing, General Galeforce had always praised his determination and unconventional thinking. The last thing he was gonna do was let a setback like this bring him to his knees. And he didn’t much fancy sticking around to be tortured or something.  
He wriggled his arms around, searching for some kind of flaw in the knot, a way to slip out, however, the thing was tied pretty tight. He’d just have to keep trying.  
After several minutes of writhing and grunting bore no results, he sighed and looked around for other options, reaching into the farthest corners of his mind. He may not be smart, but he sure was stubborn, and decently flexible.  
He rested his wrists against the wall and managed to get his foot on the knot. Now in position, he pushed on his leg with all his might, attempting to just rip the fabric straight off.  
His wrists felt as if they might dislocate under all that pressure, but luckily for him, a necktie did not make for the sturdiest handcuffs, no matter how good the knot was.  
The tie ripped and his arms came free, but not soon enough to stop him from faceplanting into the floor.  
He scrambled to his feet, his eyes watering from the force of hitting the concrete, and hid beside the door as he heard footsteps. If push came to shove, he would to just that; shove whoever opened it out of the way and run for it.  
“Heh, sorry Henry, looks like my ‘pretty little face’ got a little busted up,” he muttered to himself, smirking.


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It continues

Henry walks in, now with an actual pair of handcuffs in his hands, He looks over at Charles, then to his now unbound arms. He presses the bridge of his nose, annoyed. 

" I should have guessed you would get out sooner or later. Come on, if you make this easy, we'll go easy on you. "

Henry made his way over to the cell door, and reached into his new coat pocket, pulling out a key. Placing it into the door of the cell, he turned it, and the cell clicked open.

\-----  
Shit! Well, it seemed like stealth wasn’t gonna be an option here.   
C’mon Charles, you got this.  
He waited with bated breath for Henry to open the door. When he heard the click of the key, he went for it.  
“BOLD ACTION MAAAAAN!” he yelled as he charged at Henry, barreling into him at top speed, knocking them both to the ground. He took off in a wild sprint, leaping off of Henry and running as fast as he could down the hall. An alarm went off in the building, and various Toppats poked their heads out of adjacent rooms. Charles paid them no mind and just kept on running. Good thing his headphones slightly muffled the alarm, if he had no protection the noise would be far too overwhelming.

\-----

Henry was a bit surprised when Charles yelled out... whatever he did as he was shoved down as Charles ran out and past the open door. Trying to grab his leg was fruitless, and he cursed. Pushing himself up, he ran after Charles. The alarms were already blaring, so he was hoping that...

" WHAT ARE YOU NUMSKULLS DOING STANDING THERE? AFTER HIM! "

A few came out of their rooms, one of them with a gun, as well as a trio known for their terrible stealth success rate. At least this wasn't stealth. They may finally make a successful action as a group... And he didn't want his new piece of leverage to escape so easily. He still wanted the information that would be rattling around in his little brain. 

" Charrrlesssssss, you cant run from meeee~ "

\-----  
Charles tried to ignore how much Henry sounded like a slasher villain at that moment and just make it out of here alive. He was so thankful for his military training giving him good endurance at this moment, if he hadn’t had the experience he’d be completely out of breath right now. All those torturous training methods were worth it in the end it seemed.  
His path was blocked by three Toppats; one was a brunette with a ponytail, wispy facial hair, and a permanent snarl, another was short and curvy, with green hair and pink heart-shaped glasses, and the last was absurdly tall, with two frizzy buns falling onto their shoulders.  
“Let’s get him team !” yelled the first, whose name was Quiril.   
The shortest one (named Mars) swung at Charles with a bottle as he ran past, which he blocked with his arm. Shards of glass flew everywhere, narrowly missing their eyes but cutting Charles’ forehead.  
“Grab ‘im Artemis!” called Mars to the tall one, who attempted to intercept Charles as he passed them. Artemis successfully grabbed Charles by the collar of his jacket, and the pilot was hit by a burst of panic-induced adrenaline and frantically wriggled out of his jacket before Artemis got a good hold on him. 

“What the hell was that crap !?” yelled Quiril, when Artemis suddenly had an idea. They picked up Quiril and tossed him at Charles, catching both of them off guard.   
“Whoa-“ yelped Charles in surprise as the scraggly Toppat landed on top of him, attempting to wrestle him to the ground. He wasn’t as strong as Charles, so he threw him off without too much hardship, but by then Mars and Artemis had caught up.  
Artemis got a hold of him before he could escape and held him in a tight bear-hug.  
“Nghk, lemme go !” he struggled. Artemis’s strength was absurd, it was superhuman.

\-----  
Henry finally turned the last few corners, to see that the chaotic group of three actually holding onto, and actually keeping the escaping- well, previously escaping pilot in place. A few deep breaths, and Henry stood back up, tall as ever. Walking over to the group, he smirked at Artemis. 

" Well done recruit. You may not be the best at stealth, but I do say... " He looked back to Charles, still wiggling. Taking out the handcuffs he looped onto his belt, he opened them. " You always seem to surprise me in ways of strength. " 

The cuffs were clamped around Charles's wrists, and Henry went further down the hall, turning around to beckon Artemis to follow him.

" You actually ran closer to the room, I'm surprised. You did make this easier for us in the end. Ironic, wouldn't you say? " Henry knew it was bluffing. But he still said it. Why? For the hope of anyone in the base to crumble in front of his eyes.

\-----  
Charles glared at Henry, now panting and out of breath. Artemis was holding him up so that his feet didn’t even touch the floor.  
“Thank you, sir” beamed Artemis, brimming with pride. Quiril got to his feet, sort of jealous he didn’t also get praised. Mars, in their usual fashion, winked at Charles and flashed a flirtatious smile, which was met with utter confusion on his part.  
“Go to hell!” yelled Charles, huffing and puffing angrily as Artemis carried him after Henry.  
He refused to accept that Henry was actually telling the truth. If he were, his effort would be completely pointless, and he wouldn’t allow himself to go down that path of feeling pathetic and useless. Not again. Not now.   
His expression turned from anger to frustration to desperation.   
“Dammit,” he muttered, looking at the floor.

\-----  
" That reminds me... " Henry reached over to Charles, his hand slowly closing on the top of his headset, before pulling it off.   
" We can't have you trying to communicate to your little friends now, can we? "   
Turning around to walk further down the hall, he fiddled with the headphones, flipping open a panel at the bottom, and smirking. There were multiple different ports, one for almost everything. He was planning on just sending a video, but with this... with this, he can present a live showcase of his power, his leverage against them. He has to let the crew work with the electronics, and he had to make sure everything else was ready to go.

\-----  
It took Charles a moment to register what was happening, and by the time it hit him it was already too late. His eyes widened in panic as his precious headphones were pulled away from him.  
“Nonono NOO!” he cried, leaning forward in an attempt to get them back, but of course his hands were cuffed and he couldn’t reach out if he tried. The sound of the alarm still going off hit him like a tidal wave, setting off a pounding in his ears that felt like it pierced his entire brain.   
He hunched his shoulders, frantically trying to block out the painful sounds while simultaneously trying to resist crying.  
“GIVE THEM BACK !” he screamed, his voice cracking, flailing with all his might against Artemis’ iron grip. He was beginning to hyperventilate, damn it, DAMN IT!   
This was not the time for a meltdown!   
He bit down on Artemis’ hand as hard as he could, but they didn’t seem at all fazed.   
If anything they pitied him, Charles seemed to be in severe distress without his headphones, it tugged at their heartstrings a bit.  
While still restraining him, Artemis shifted their grip and cupped their hands around Charles’ ears, in an attempt to at least calm him down a little.  
Charles was taken aback at the sudden gesture, his head still hurt and his ears were screaming from the echo of the alarm in his head, but it was at least some kind of respite from the sharp noise.

\-----  
Henry flinched at the sudden cries of Charles. He wasn't expecting such a strong reaction for removing his headset, but it had to be done. His crying was getting annoying, and he turned around in frustration, but saw Artemis cup his hands around Charles's ears. He was about to comment on it, but his voice didn't rise up, as Charles visibly relaxed a bit. 'interesting...' He nodded at him, and finally reached the room where he was walking towards. Pushing open the door, he went over to the few other Toppats standing around, one checking a camera set up in front of a chair in the middle of the room. He held up the headphones, smirking.

" Hey, remember that video idea? Looks like we can send them a message much sooner. You think you can hook this mic up to the transponder? "

The Toppat nodded, as he took the headphones from Henry's hand, and went over the wires on the table sprouting from the back of the large computer on the wall. Henry went in front of the screen, and started typing a few commands in.

\-----  
Charles was still freaking out, although most of it was internal now, he didn't show any visible signs of a meltdown anymore, except for his rapid and shallow breathing and wide-open eyes. He craned his neck to try and see what Henry was up to, or as far as he could reach with Artemis squeezing his head.

\-----  
Henry looked up in frustration, and with a few more clicks, the alarm finally shut down.   
" Finally, that fucking thing is off. Daniel, are the headphones hooked up? "   
The recruit fiddling with the headset nodded, and walked over to Henry. But he got stopped by Henry holding up his hand. Turning fully around, he looked over at the group, and the still breathing Charles. He stared at Artemis, a bit tired.   
" What are you waiting for? Get him in the chair. We don't want you on camera, they'll just look you up. And this ..." A glance at Charles, " token of appreciation form the government should be shown off, don't you think? "  
With that, he turned to Daniel one last time.  
" Once the general is on screen, give those headphones to me. They need to hear our message loud and clear. And he can give us a nice finisher "

\-----  
"Sorry..." whispered Artemis as they wrestled Charles into the chair, "I am just following orders, no hard feelings ?"   
Charles looked up at them, and sighed.   
"Nah, I guess not..." he whispered back. After all, he knew all too well the feeling of doing something you'd rather not because of orders.  
"I- uh, I appreciate the... uh, gesture," he added, frowning. Artemis may be a Toppat and a criminal but they were really too sweet to stay mad at.  
Once the pilot was secured, Artemis backed away and returned to Quiril and Mars, who were now vibing in the corner.

Charles turned his attention to Henry, his shoulders all hunched to attempt to cover his ears again.

\-----  
As the signal was sent out, Henry barely had enough time to take off his hat and slip the headphones on when the screen buzzed to life. Replacing the static, was a frantic looking old man, wearing the uniform of a general. His hair was frazzled, but his look was steady.   
" CHARLES! There you are. We tried sending a signal to your helicopter but there was no response. How you even got another radio up and running is phenomenal. Now, what's your location so we can organize a pickup zone? "  
Henry laughed, and the general's face paled, then darkened.   
" Hello, General. It seems like you received our message in record time. I must say, I half expected you to ignore it- "  
" Cut the shit, where is Charles? "  
Henry walked over to the camera, which still had the lenses cap on, and twirled it off. It clattered to the floor, and Henry could hear the general's breath sharpen. He was no doubt now seeing Charles, bound to the chair, with no headphones on, bruised all around his face. But still alive.  
" He's right here ~ "

\-----  
Charles was staring at the screen, eyes wide. He honestly wasn't sure where to look, either the screen or the camera lens, so he ended up sorta switching between the two at random.  
"Hi," he said awkwardly, kinda blanking on what he should do. Did he give his location? He wasn't even sure where he was, he hadn't been paying attention in the helicopter because he was too focused on crashing it.  
The instability of not having his headphones was throwing him off. There was a bunch of background buzzing that he couldn't discern a source for, which made his eye twitch in discomfort. This is why he normally wore the headphones all the time, this sort of noise was blocked, as of now he couldn't filter out all the unnecessary sounds and it was driving him up the wall.  
He still tried to put on a brave face and at least look calmer than he was.  
"Don't worry General, I know this looks bad, but I can take care of myself, you just... uh... I-I'll get another signal to you as soon as I can!"   
He wasn't sure what he was trying to do, and he definitely wasn't any good at concealing his emotions. He periodically glared at Henry, just to try and communicate that he wasn't scared of him, and taking away his safety net wasn't gonna be enough to break him.

\-----  
" As you see... We've kept him safe. "  
A pocket knife came out of his pocket, and flipped open.   
" For now, at least. . ."  
Walking around the camera, he leaned down, holding up the knife right by Charles's neck. His face was now visible to the camera, as he looked up, with a bright smile.  
" Good to see you again, General. "  
The look on the general's face was priceless. That lovely mixture of shock, betrayal, and anger. Oh, it was delicious. It was so lovely, Henry could never get enough. Never. He held the knife just a tad bit closer.  
" WH- HENRY?! YOU... YOU.. "  
He turned around to the soldiers in the background, the majority of them also shocked, a few with hands over their mouths.   
" I NEED YOU TO LOCATE WHERE THIS MESSAGE IS COMING FROM ASAP! GO "  
Henry sighed.   
" Pitiful... and here I was thinking we can have some more fun. "  
Standing back up, he pulled off the headphones and slid them back onto Charles's head. After readjusting the microphone so it was realigned, he walked to the door, and placed the pocket knife into the hands of a Toppat nearby. Looking back at Charles, he smirked.  
" Hey, Charles? Be a dear, and scream for us, won't you?" And before exiting the room, quickly addressed the camera operator. " Go ahead and tell the others about the party. I need to finalize some shipments before we take off. "  
And with that, Henry was off, only pausing to pull up his phone to monitor the cameras. A few moments of searching, and he found the room. Slipping it back into his pocket, he continued down the hall.  
\-----

\-----  
Charles let out a small gasp when the knife approached his neck, and tensed up, not moving a muscle except for the involuntary trembling that came with the fear.  
The fact that Henry returned his headphones right after had him confused, but hell he wasn't gonna complain about that.   
He eyed the knife apprehensively as Henry handed it to the other Toppat, a blonde with a blue hat.  
"Wait... whaddya mean scre-eeeEEAAAAAM!?" he began, following Henry with his gaze as he exited the room, only to be swiftly interrupted by a sharp, burning pain in his leg. He looked down to see that the knife had been stabbed right into his thigh, blood already soaking through his pants. And he screamed alright.  
Another sharp pain ran through his leg when the knife was pulled out, and he yelled again, still under the shock.   
"Ow ow ow ow" he muttered, trying to comprehend what had just happened. His breathing sped up again. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see General Galeforce's panicked expression on the screen.

He blinked, looking at the bloody knife in the Toppat's hand, then at his leg. Oh right, he'd been stabbed.   
The Toppat looked at him, frowned, and slashed at his cheek. He winced, feeling the blood trickle down his face. Clearly not satisfied, his assailant reached around behind him, and Charles felt the blade make contact with his left pinkie. There was another rush of pain, causing Charles to yell through gritted teeth, and then he looked up and...  
"M-my finger ?!" he screamed.

\-----  
Henry had a sadistic grin as he heard the screaming from the room through his earpiece. Turning it off after a bit was necessary, as he entered the room with his other henchmen. They were always rotating, despite the constant complaining, Henry knew they only wished to impress him to be his Right Hand Man. But in his eyes, rotating always let him use someone else's ability in the mission in the heat of the moment. It was a simple conversation. Making sure the shipments were on time, the airship was ready to depart at any moment... Henry paused on that last thought. The military knew it was Charles, just because it was his headset. They could track it relatively simply. Henry shook his head.   
"Just... Start packing up the building. "  
" But, Henry? "  
" That pilot crashed into the building. We need to move to the new base as soon as we can manage. They can track it. Are you wishing to set up a welcome party for the government? Go ahead. I'm going to monitor the show. "  
Walking out from the room, he tuns at the doorway.  
" If this base is not cleared out when the first choppers are on the horizon, I won't hesitate to leave you behind. "  
And Henry walked past the door, it swishing shut behind him. A few moments, and Henry leaned against the wall.  
.... He was exhausted.

\-----  
Charles stared in dismay at what was once his pinkie finger being held in front of him by the Toppat with the knife. He started hyperventilating again, casting around wildly for something, anything that might help. He spotted Artemis in the corner, who was determinedly staring at their hand and facing the wall.   
He barely had time to register when the flash of the blade crossed his vision, getting dangerously close to his eye.   
Hell no!  
Charles kicked up his leg, knocking the knife into the air. It hit the ground with a clatter, and he heard several Toppats start muttering amongst themselves. The blonde who had been handling the knife yelled in surprise, then glared at him angrily. He didn’t bother picking up the knife, instead, he went straight for the throat, wrapping both his hands around his neck and squeezing.   
The air was immediately cut off and Charles began to choke, gasping frantically for air, and coming up squat. Tears filled his eyes as his throat was painfully constricted, and his vision went in and out of focus.   
Then suddenly, the grasp on his neck was lifted and he flew into a coughing fit as air filled his lungs again. He looked up and saw Artemis holding the guy up. He was flailing angrily, but they effortlessly held him out of reach.   
“I don’t think that was the plan, Sven,” they said. There were a few murmurs of agreement, and Mars also stepped up.   
“Yeah mate, pretty sure we aren’t s’posed to kill ‘im,” they said, “Quiril, go get Henry, we need ‘is call on this.”  
Quiril nodded and exited the room, going to find Henry, and left Charles in a room full of confused Toppats who weren’t quite sure what to do with him.

\-----  
Henry was walking down the hallway when he saw Quiril running towards him. Henry quickly stopped, and looked down onto them.   
" What's going on? "  
Henry already thought about the logical problem. Charles either got out... somehow. Or, he got knocked out. Maybe even got the General to know his location. But, as he entered the room, his stomach dropped, Charles was breathing a lot heavier, a very pissed off Artemis holding up Sven by his neck, and a bloody Charles, even more, blood dripping from the armrest his hand was bound to.   
" WHAT. THE FUCK. HAPPENED ? "  
Henry didn't even wait for an answer. He stormed over to the group, and got his knife from the ground. After motioning for Artemis to drop Sven down onto the ground, he pointed the knife at the kneeling Toppat ... no. No, he is no longer one.   
" Get out of my sight, before I do it myself. "  
Sven was already out the door after he ended his sentence. A few moments passed, when Henry called out. " Someone, go shoot that bastard. ", and finally took his knife in his hand, turning towards Charles.

A few moments after someone ran out to take out Sven, Henry leaned down, and started cutting the binds on Charles. Once all of them were gone, he pulled out the wires from Charles's headphones, and now, with Charles barely hanging on to consciousness, he pulled him up and onto his arms, and made his way out of the room. 

Leaving the general screaming for him to get back there. Henry didn't care.

He had an airship to get to.

\-----  
Charles was too preoccupied with breathing to protest, his throat stinging with every breath. He was also extremely confused, so much had happened in the last minute that he barely had any clue what was even going on.   
Once his brain had enough oxygen to begin to think clearly again, it finally registered that he was being carried by Henry again.   
“...wh-why ?” he gasped, his voice raspy and barely audible, “why did...did you save me ? I thought...you...why ?”  
Constructing a proper sentence was apparently too difficult right now. Still, he had so many questions, nothing was making sense.  
“Where are we going ?”

\-----  
“... I told them not to kill you. One of my former employees didn’t listen to that command. “   
Henry was walking out the doors now, different than the ones they entered earlier. Back outside, a sudden wind hit them, blowing Henry’s remaining hair every which way.   
“ Besides. That general of yours already has men on the lookout for you, and I don’t want anyone taking you back. It’s time to jump base. “   
The whirring only got louder and louder as Henry approached the now visible airship. It was by no means the original one, that’s the one he destroyed. But it was similar enough to suit everyone’s needs.   
“ ... stop squirming, you’re going to hurt yourself even more. I’m taking you to put medic. If you die of blood loss before we even get there, that would be a shame. “

\-----  
Charles racked his brain for any possible reason Henry would want him alive. It just didn't make sense, and his recent brush with death was definitely clouding his reasoning right now. Speaking of which, he suddenly became aware of his missing finger and leg wound, they were still throbbing painfully.  
"Why...why is my life so important to-" he winced, when suddenly it hit him. How hadn't he realized this before ?  
"No point in keeping around me anyway... I can tell you for a fact that you won't get any information outta me", he rasped, glaring defiantly up at Henry.

\-----  
Walking through the more pristine hallways of the airship, Henry stopped in his tracks at Charles’s comment. He wouldn’t be too keen on sharing any secrets due to him almost dying by asphyxiation, but he had a different plan. 

Turning to the wall, Henry hoisted the pilot on his arms, and pushed him against the wall. Hard. He was still holding him up, but due to only supporting his legs, it sure was unstable. 

“ You may not answer any of your questions by the hands of my recruits, but I can always get answers out. No matter what you do, it’s going to be fruitless. You're now mine, Charles. I was joking when I said that last time. “ 

A few beats of silence followed, then... 

’Warning- Internal battery is low. Please recharge’ 

“ Shit, well, let’s get going. “ 

And with that, Henry slipped Charles back into his arms again, and made haste to the medical bay.


	3. 3

Charles' brow furrowed in more confusion. Every answer Henry gave him juts brought up more questions, way more than could fit in his brain right now. Also the sentence "you're now mine" sent so many chills down his spine, he did not like the implications one bit. That was the sort of thing a possessive yandere type would say to their victim (he wasn't a full-on weeb but he did watch anime occasionally).  
After those moments of silence where Charles couldn't help but imagine the horrible things that might happen to him, he was brought back to reality by Henry's battery warning. Charles gasped, caught off guard, but that gave him an idea.   
If he could somehow stall Henry from recharging, he might just be able to escape once he got too tired to chase after him. It was risky, especially considering his current state, but it was worth a shot.  
With all his might, he kicked his legs, wriggling around in Henry's grip as hard as he could. Ripples of pain shot up his leg as he moved it, and he stifled several screams.  
C'mooooon ! this has to work!  
If he couldn't free himself he'd at least be a nuisance and slow him down.

\-----  
Henry didn’t take to his wiggling too kindly. He was already exhausted, and now since his battery was running low, he had to think of something. Oh wait, he knows. 

Without even pausing to stop his walking, his robotic arm came up and grabbed a hold of Charles’s injured hand. Specifically, the area where the pinky was missing.   
Without missing a beat, he pinched the area. After a while, he stopped, but his hand lingered. 

“ Do you wish to continue? “

\-----  
Charles momentarily froze as Henry squeezed his injured hand, intensifying the already present pain, especially considering that metal hand was strong. Spurts of blood flew out of the wound.  
"Owow ow ow!" yelped Charles, getting his teeth. He squinted at Henry once he stopped, weighing his options.   
This certainly hurt, but he'd been through way worse in the military, this was par for the course. And besides, he was stronger than that, Henry severely underestimated his stubbornness.  
"Try me," he panted, certain he was gonna regret it later. He resumed his squirming, trying to get his hand out of Henry's grasp.

\-----  
Henry huffed, then leaned down to bonk his head onto Charles' forehead. It wasn't too hard, but hard enough to ... 'knock some sense into him', he thought. But he didn't mind to even see Charles's reaction. Entering the medical area, he looked around for the doctor. He didn't want Charles dying from blood loss, not to mention his own battery problems. Dumping Charles onto one of the beds, he pointed down, as if to say, 'stay the fuck here' as Henry walked over to one of the corners. Pulling down from one of the corners ceilings, a long wire was revealed. pulling back a bit of his hair, he plugged it into the back of his neck, then sumps over in the chair underneath him, breathing in deeply.  
\-----  
Charles recoiled from the hit, clutching his head as lights popped in his field of vision. So now on top of his sensory overload headache, he was just gonna have a bruise on his forehead, alright then. His eyes were shut as he rubbed his head, and he flopped onto the bed quite hard as he was dropped.  
Dazed, he looked at Henry reach the charger and sit down. Wait, he was now connected to the wall, which gave him an opening, right?  
Ignoring Henry's warning, he jumped down from the bed, swaying violently from his sustained injuries, and stumbled towards the door. If there was one thing Charles lacked, it was the ability to give up, and if there was a second thing he didn't have, it was regard for his own safety.  
\------  
Henry JUST connected to the charger when he saw Charles stumble up, and try to reach the door. Just as Charles was about to reach the door, the door locked with an audible click. Then... a loud, garbled voice rang out from the corner of the room. 

“ ChArrrLes. . . DoNT yoUUuu DaRE “ 

His arm was outstretched, his palm pulsing. Henry didn’t want to fire his weapon, he’d probably destroy the entire airship. He’d just use his lights to scare him. He’s just thankful he was connected, to be able to lock the room down. He needed his safety as he charged up, and now it came with a new use. 

Keeping his pet in

\-----  
Charles whirled around to face Henry, eyes wide in surprise. That same spine-chill he'd felt before made him shiver, and he took several steps back and   
leaned against the door.  
His breath caught in his throat, and as his shaking knees buckled under him he slid down the door and onto the ground, recoiling from Henry's outstretched arm.   
He was too scared to speak or try to stand, so he just stared at Henry in silence, knees curled up to his chest in a defensive position, his mouth agape, and cold beads of sweat forming from his forehead.  
He didn't notice the doctor in the room roll her eyes in exasperation and pull out some bandages and a needle.  
"Stand up," she said, finally getting Charles' attention. He didn't move.   
"Fine," she sighed, kneeling down and grabbing his wrist in order to bandage his finger, and doing the same to his leg before he had any inclination to protest. He kept periodically glancing at Henry, his intimidating aura that had come out of nowhere keeping him rooted to the spot.

\-----  
Henry was lingering. His hand fell down even more with each breath, and finally, his arm fell to his side, and Henry passed out, the lights flickering for a moment as the power tried to surge back into his robotic body. But, alas, he was already asleep. A soft buzzing fell in and out, always at a constant, slow pace. The lock eventually clicked back open after a few minutes, but Henry didn't stir. He didn't even move. He just... stayed sitting there, sleeping.

\-----  
Charles watched Henry fall asleep with bated breath. His heart rate was beginning to go down as the shock dissipated, and he was left with a lingering feeling of unease. Still, with Henry asleep, he could finally put an end to this horrible awful day. He noticed the lock click open, and tried to reach for it, but Dr. V slapped his hand away, unsheathing a taser from her belt as a warning.   
Charles relented dejectedly, he didn't think he could run very far with the stress his body was under, and he was exhausted.  
Part of him hoped he was just having a very vivid nightmare, and he would wake up back in his bunk and never have to think about Henry again.  
"Shall we get you to a bed ?" asked Dr. V after she finished patching him up. Charles sighed, his eyelids getting heavy. Man, he was so tired, there was only so much he could go through before his body started to give up on him.  
He pushed himself up with the door, refusing any attempts by the doctor to help him, and he shuffled over to the hospital bed, collapsing into it and losing consciousness.

\-----  
Henry doesn't dream anymore. At least normally. It's just a series of images for him, reviewing what happened that day. Most days would be filled with mundane paperwork, walking around, and charging back up. Other times it would be reviewing the heists, finding where he went wrong.

The crash was different though. It was.. brighter. Louder. Fuzzy around the edges.

Charles. He was. Bright. His blood glowed in his memories. It was so red. Red. 

Charles was covered in blood. Burn marks, torn clothing, broken headphones. 

Fire. He was banging on a window. Why were his hands all fleshy?

A breath. Henry bolted up from his seat, but took a second to look around. He was in the medical bay of the airship, the lights dimmed down. His connection told him that, for the nearly 3 hours he was out, they've been flying for only 2 of them. And Charles... well, looking over, the bed wasn't that far from his position by the wall. He was still sleeping, his chest rising and falling.

\-----  
Charles' brain was too exhausted to dream for most of the night, his mind was just blank, save for occasional flashes of... Henry's face, his metal arm outstretched, the sheer terror of his glitchy sounding voice commanding him. Then that memory fading out and leaving nothingness again.   
He didn't know how long he was asleep, time was really foggy to him, but eventually, his eyes fluttered open, and he was lying on a hospital bed on the airship. Well, he hadn't died in his sleep, whether that was a good thing or not was up for debate. He was honestly still too groggy to move.

\-----  
Henry stood up, and slowly unplugged himself from the wall. The lights dimmed even darker, but Henry continued his way into the room. His bionic eye was glowing in the dark, as he approached Charles's bedside. His back was to him, but Henry still stared at him.   
" ... Who are you.... to me...? "   
His voice was low, almost a whisper on his count. His human arm was outstretched, hovering over the sleeping pilot. But Henry's hand closed, then pulled back. Walking out of the small area where Charles was, he made his way over to the back, where the office was. Dr. Vinschpinsilstien was still there, typing on the computer on the desk. She looked up.  
" You're awake. Your battery was almost out, you forgot to charge it, da? "  
" .... had to get into a fight. "  
The doctor sighed, standing up to look through the window overlooking the beds. Her eyes lingered on Charles.  
" Vat happened to him? "  
" Sven. I already took care of him. " Henry said, his own eye now set on the sleeping Pilot. " Interrogation went wrong. He tried to kill him. "

\-----  
Charles' suddenly felt more awake as he heard Henry walk up to him. He didn't pay much attention to his conversation with the doctor, but one particular phrase grabbed his attention.  
Who am I... to Henry? What? he thought. That made no sense, they'd met again for the first time in years, having no history together other than a brief cooperation for a government mission followed swiftly by Henry's betrayal. He should be no one to Henry, just some guy trying to take him down, and yet he got so obsessed and possessive beyond any logical limits.   
He was clearly a madman, completely insane. Charles was almost too afraid to look at him, to indicate that he was indeed awake. He had no idea how he might react.   
But curiosity got the better of him, and he rolled over, with some difficulty, holding his headphones in place, and looked up at the two of them silently.

\-----  
Henry noticed the movement from the bed almost instantly. But has he turned, their eyes met. He paused. His bruises were fainter, or maybe it was the dark room. He held eye contact for a few more moments, then turned back to the doctor, only to find her staring at Henry. Not with a smirk, but... a frown?   
" ... You knew him, da? Before you... came here? "  
Henry turned back to Charles, also frowning.   
" ... I'm not sure Doc "  
Then, oh yeah, there it was. The doctor was smirking now.   
" You liked him, da? "  
Henry went pink. He.. why the hell is he blushing? He still stared forward, towards Charles. Avoiding eye contact.  
" He is our prisoner now. He has information that the government finds valuable. Not to mention, he could make a great pilot if he joins us... "  
".... You really like him " The doctor gave out a loud, sharp laugh. Standing up, she exited the office, leaving Henry sputtering.

\-----  
“Wha-huh ?”   
Charles let out a noise of confusion, staring at Henry and the door which had just closed behind the doctor.   
His brain was just scrambled now, and he also felt his face grow warm in mounting embarrassment.   
“Did she just... wait you like me ???” he exclaimed in sheer confusion. Out of all the nonsensical things he’d witnessed, this took the cake. How the actual fuck did this happen ??  
“We’ve known each other for like a day! And you’ve done nothing but hurt me- MY FINGER GOT CUT OFF BECAUSE OF YOU !” he yelled, holding out his left hand frantically.  
He was kinda freaking out. If what the doctor said was true, Charles now had some kind of nightmare yandere cyborg on his hands, and that could never end well.

\-----  
Henry would already be blushing more if he could. His systems overheating seem to do the trick. He was glowing himself, his eye going completely static.   
" I- I DONT LIKE YOU! " Henry yelled out, his eye now flickering back to a red orb. He suddenly froze, quickly covering the eye. Once the eye blinked back to the usual blue, a deep breath got Henry to stop... overheating. His cheeks were still pink.   
" I just stated that you are currently under our watch. You have the information that we need, and you are quite the pilot. The offer to join us still stands. " His eyes flickered back to Charles's left hand. It was bandaged, but even in the dark, he could see the bandages were going pink. Henry sighed, walking out of the room. He paused at the door, taking one last look at Charles, then leaving. The lock clicked behind him.

\-----  
Charles recoiled to the far end of the bed when Henry’s eye turned red, clutching the sheets in his hands and staring at him with a terrified expression.   
His breathing was accelerating along with his heartbeat, and once Henry had left, he curled up into a ball and held his knees to his chest.  
He finally appeared to be alone, and as soon as he came to this realization, tears filled his eyes and fell down his cheeks.   
He wept into the sheets, holding onto his headphones for dear life. He didn’t know what caused him to break down, maybe just that he’d been bottling it up for so long, forcing himself to act tough and brave to save face in front of his enemies, and now that he felt he had some privacy he just couldn’t hold it in.   
Everything that had happened, every ounce of emotion and pain he’d been struck with all came bursting out at once.  
“...ohh... fuck...” he said hoarsely, wiping his eyes and sniffling.

\-----  
It was another undetermined amount of time where Henry was pacing around his room. He really didn't know why he was so attracted to him. To Charles. He was just.... confused. Why did he have that.. dream? The dream about the glass, the fire. He...

Henry looked at his hands. One, almost completely covered in scratches, but still flesh and bones, one of his last remaining human parts. He was human. But his other side, completely metal. His left arm, all the way from his hand to his shoulder, deep pink scars connecting it to his still human chest. Cold, hard. Manmade. Metal. Metal and wires. 

His hands burred into his scalp, his face hiding along with it. Why. Why was his mind getting in the way of this? He had the pilot here, captured in his airship, injured even! But the fire kept coming back. He kept seeing the fire. And... two hands. Two hands, made from flesh, flesh, and bone. Looking up, he wasn't in his room anymore. He was inside some kind of... were those stars?

Walking up to the window, he placed his hand up to the glass. His reflection was... human. Nothing was, metal. He was... human. 

" Hen...ry? "

Henry whirled around, finding. 

" Boss, we've started questioning the pilot. He's still not answering anything we ask him. But he asked to speak with you. "

" ... Ill be right there. "

\-----  
Charles lay in bed, finally calmed down after crying to himself for an hour. He took a deep breath, letting out the last of his bottled up emotions, and ready to start thinking rationally, to start making a plan of escape.  
"Okay Charles, think, how do I get out of here ?" he whispered to himself, thinking first of calling the General. He pressed the button on his headphones, but all that happened was a bit of static. That wasn't gonna be an option ." Shit..."   
He went through a bunch of scenarios in his head, but his mind kept drifting back to Henry. What had happened to make him like this? Supposedly he took down the old leaders of the clan, but that didn't make sense, he'd taken over years ago and was just a normal human back then. Well...maybe "normal" was a bit of a stretch, but he wasn't all cyborg-like he was now.  
And why was he so possessive of Charles? Maybe his insanity somewhat explained it, but they barely knew each other. He wondered if maybe there was some history between them that he'd forgotten somehow... but then, was Henry... in love with him? That was a scary prospect, there was too much that he just didn't know, and Henry was hella evil. There was no way Charles would ever fall for someone like him, not in a million years...unless...no, he couldn't! Much less join the Toppat clan.

His intense thinking was interrupted by the doors opening loudly, and the Toppat trio who has caught him before came toppling into the room, tripping over each other and landing in a heap on the floor.  
"There he is, let's get him !" pointed Quiril, as Artemis made a beeline for Charles' bed. He tried to get away but his injuries made him much slower than he was used to, and Artemis picked him up under the arms.  
"Let! Me! GO!" he yelled, flailing wildly with each word, to no avail.  
Mars walked up, chuckling. "The Boss seems ta like you, eh? I don't blame 'im really, yer quite the looker," the said, with another flirtatious grin.   
"Hurry up fellas, we gotta interrogate him." declared Quiril, tapping his wristwatch.

They dragged him to a separate room on the airship, and tied him to a chair in the middle of it. There were maybe a few other Toppats in the room, but no sign of Henry.   
"I'll say this right now, just cuz you're the Boss' boytoy don't mean I'm gonna go easy on ya," said Quiril menacingly. Without any robot parts, they didn't quite have the same aura as Henry. Charles blushed angrily at the "boytoy" comment.  
"I'm not his damn boytoy first of all!" retorted Charles, "and there's no way in hell you're getting me to talk."  
"We'll see about that," puffed Quiril, a snarl forming on their lips. They grabbed a black collar and put it around Charles' neck. He heard a button click, and his muscles tensed painfully as he was electrocuted. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream, not right now. After a few seconds, the pain subsided, and Charles was left panting as the tension released.  
"A shock collar? Didn't take you for the kinky type Quiril," teased Mars.  
"Shut up! This is a fucking torture device to get him to spill the beans, I'm not... I'm not like that!" yelled Quiril, red in the face.  
"I know I know, I'm just pulling yer leg," laughed Mars.  
"A-anyway, we're under direct orders not to kill ya," said Quiril, holding up the button, "so this thing ain't lethal, but it's gonna get worse and worse every time. So, you wanna start yappin', or do I gotta keep goin' ?"  
Charles stubbornly refused. After maybe two or three more shocks, Quiril was starting to get frustrated as Charles still wouldn't say anything.  
"GODDAMMIT! What the hell's it gonna take to getcha to talk already ?!" they yelled, stamping their foot.  
"...well for one thing... you guys... underestimate... how stubborn I am," he panted, smiling defiantly, then he had an idea he would probably regret.  
"...maybe...you should...bring Henry into this, huh ? He's... at least ten times... as threatening as you clowns...."  
Mars whispered into a nearby Toppat's ear, and cocked their head towards the door. Said Toppat left the room, probably with the intention of fetching Henry.  
\-----  
Walking down the hallways of the airship was comforting, in a way. The new ship was built around him and his connections to it. Many joked that he was the ship's supercomputer, and he really couldn’t say that he wasn’t. 

Entering the room, he saw that, once again, it was another interrogation room. The only difference being, Charles wasn’t covered in blood. That was... good to see. What was a bit concerning, was a brand new addition to his outfit. A shock collar. Henry actually laughed to himself. A smirk came on as he looked over to the Toppats in the room.

“ Who’s idea was it? “ 

Not even waiting for a proper answer, Henry stood in front of Charles. 

“ Now... I’ve been hearing rumors that you wanted to see lill old me. Care to explain? “


	4. 4

Mars and Artemis both looked at Quiril as Henry asked his question, who pulled his hat over his face in embarrassment.

Charles didn't really have a response, he'd kinda just been bullshitting earlier. Now that Henry was here, he was actually a little bit afraid.  
"I, uh, I figured you'd wanna get a good look at me, what with how possessive you are. I mean you are obsessed with keeping me alive, for some reason," he improvised. He had no goddamn idea what he was doing.  
"Oh wait...didn't that doctor mention, uh...something about a crush ?" he added tauntingly, maybe he could at least get a little bit of revenge by putting him on the spot in front of his lackeys.  
He heard Mars let out an "oooh" in the background.

\-----

Henry went a bit pink from that last comment. Sighing, he reached over and took the controller for the collar. Turning back around, he gave the button a quick press. 

“ Are you sure you didn’t hurt your ears in that crash? She said I liked you. And you what? “ 

He knelt down, locking his eyes with Charles. 

“ I do like you.”

A press of the button, a bit longer this time. 

“ I like you because you have information. Information that we need. Are you going to help us... “

He held up the remote, almost taunting him.

“ Or do we need to jog your memory a bit first? “

\-----  
Charles' muscles seized up again as he writhed from the pain, gritting his teeth and holding back the urge to scream.  
I'm not giving you the satisfaction of hearing me scream this time, he thought when the electricity left his body. He glared at Henry his eye twitching, seeing his own reflection in Henry's eyes. He looked a mess.  
Not screaming was even harder with the second, longer shock. He came dangerously close to biting his own tongue off from the muscle spasms, which might actually be what it came to in the end, even if he hoped it didn't. He felt sick, and he didn't dare open his mouth for fear he would be.  
He sat there and glared at Henry, clenching his fists and sweating profusely. He definitely regretted having Henry come in, but it was too late now. He really didn't want another shock, but if he actually caved and allowed the Toppats to know anything secret about the government, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. So he kept quiet.

\-----  
Henry frowned. He might have been a bit harsher if this was some other, helpless soldier that they got captured. He would have left them to bleed out on that camera. But, he didn’t do that with Charles. He took him out of the video, and even got him bandaged up. He would have never done that with anyone else.

Maybe the loneliness was finally catching up to him. 

Henry thought about a different approach. There had to be some way to force to get some information out of him. Something.

“ Let’s put it this way. Its been nearly two full days since you joined us on our little adventure. And since then, you’ve been running on fumes. “

Henry smirked.

“ The human body can be without food for an entire week, but it can’t survive more than three days without water. So, my first offer is simple. Give us something to work with, and someone will go get you some water “  
\-----  
Charles was taken aback at this offer. He hadn't even realized how dehydrated he was, especially after crying for so long. But turns out, Henry was right, he was basically running on empty.  
As much as it sucked, and dehydration did not sound appealing in the slightest, he really didn't want to give them anything. Even if it cost his life.  
He still had one thing going for him. Henry had saved his life multiple times, and even though he acted aloof, he wouldn't just let Charles die. At least he hoped so.  
"...fine... I can give you something..." he panted, "but I'm not talkin 'til I get some water."  
He needed to buy himself time. He didn't actually have any intention of giving them anything useful, hell, if he could get away with lying it was worth a shot.

\-----  
Henry’s face brightened. He was actually getting to him. Turning back to one of the toppats, he nodded. They went out of the room, and Henry looked back at Charles. 

“ Nice to see you cooperating for once. I thought it was going to take a bit more pushing, but here we are.”

The door slid open, and the toppat returned, now with a small cup of water. Probably taken from the break room. Motioning towards Charles, the toppat approached, a bit apprehensive. Henry laughed. 

“ Oh come on! He doesn’t bite! And if he tried to.. “ 

He waved the remote in his hand. That seemed to calm the recruit enough to finally reach the pilot, and tilt the cup just in front of his face. He looked at Charles silently, waiting for him to take it.

\-----  
A little suspicious, Charles drank the water without breaking eye contact with Henry, occasionally glancing at the remote. As he emptied the cup, he took a moment to start breathing again. Well, he did feel a little better now, his throat wasn't dying at least, but his fingertips still felt tingly every time he looked at that damn remote, and not in a good way.  
He stared at Henry, quickly trying to think of some worthless garbage to tell him and pass it off as insider information. Unfortunately, he wasn't that quick-witted, all he had going for him were his guts and his resolve.  
"Okay so... there's this thing... this uh... attack plan... I was supposed to fly a buncha guys in... and uhhhhh.... well, all I'm gonna say is that you might wanna check your ranks for undercover agents," he said, making it up as he went along. Hopefully, this would be enough to convince Henry, Charles' speaking patterns were hesitant and awkward, but that's just how he spoke normally.  
He looked at Henry, and glanced at a few Toppats in the room, gauging their reactions.

\-----  
Henry sighed. He would have known. His finger hovered over the button. 

“ So you think I’m an idiot? “ 

Turning around. He gestured to the others. 

“ Do you really think we, the Toppat Clan, would allow such defiance? To allow us to have a traitor on our end? “ 

Now looking back at Charles, he rested his one finger on the button. Not enough to activate it, but enough to show that he was ready to push down. 

“ So... are you going to tell us the truth now? We already gave you water, so we know you won’t die on us yet. Come on... I’m waiting. “

\-----  
Shit... well that didn't work. He could try and come up with something else on the spot, but he really didn't have any ideas. Telling the truth was out of the question, his only choice was to double down and hope for the best (or at least not worst).  
"If uh...if you don't wanna believe me that's your loss," he said, shrugging, "that's all you're gonna get."  
He braced himself for another shock, prepared for the worst.  
\-----  
Henry wanted to squeeze that button so hard he might have broken the remote. His arm was already shaking from the annoyance building up in him.

“ Now listen here you..... “ 

He squeezed the bridge of his nose. This wasn’t going as well as he thought it would be. He could always take his headphones away, but that would just make him freak out again. That practically shut him down, and he wouldn’t be able to get anything from him then. 

The fires blinked back into his mind. It sounded louder than before. Even his eye was reacting to it. Flickering between his own pupil and the flickering light of the burning dream. 

Holding the remote a bit looser now, he sighed into his hand. He has to ask him someday about it. When he got captured, the dreams started up again. He has to do something about that.

Standing up, he turned back to the group, dropping the remote into Mars’s hand. 

“ I’m going to take a look at some files. Go and try your hand at questioning. If he still doesn’t budge, put him into a cell. “ 

He exited the room, taking one last look at Charles, before the door closed in front of him.

\-----  
Charles looked up, a little surprised. He was really expecting to get absolutely destroyed for his stubbornness again. Well, he wasn't about to complain.  
Mars tossed the remote in the air a couple of times, and propped up a leg onto the chair.  
"Anyfing else you wanna say ?" they asked, getting very far into his personal space. Charles shook his head. He got shocked for about half a second without warning as Mars tapped the button.  
"Fair 'nuff," they said, ignoring Charles' indignant sputtering, "You can look now Artemis, we're done."  
Artemis, who'd been standing off to the side with an uneasy expression, shuffled back over and patted Charles on the head.  
"Sorry," they said, as Quiril stormed over.  
"What're you guys doin'? We can't just let him off the hook that easy," they yelled.  
"Aww c'mon, you wouldn't torture the poor bloke in front of Artemis, you know how much they hate that," cooed Mars, caressing Artemis' shoulder while still somehow being way too close to Charles. Quiril relented, crossing his arms and leaning against the tallest of the trio.  
"...okay, uhhhh, can you not, like, touch my hair like that ?" Charles chimed in, visibly confused, "and uhh, you're all kinda invading my personal space here..."

Artemis backed up, nearly causing Quiril to fall over, and Mars stood up and booped his nose.  
"Ohhh right, sorry I forgot you were saving yerself fer Henry," they teased.  
"I am not !" retorted Charles loudly, his face growing red. What was this guy's problem? Girls? He wasn't sure, all three of these nutcases looked pretty androgynous.  


\-------  
Artemis picked up the chair he was sitting on and carried it out of the interrogation room, and down the hall to a cell.  
"How are you so strong ?" he asked.  
"Dunno. I just am," replied Artemis.  
They untied him from the chair, but left the shock collar on, and dropped the remote in the cell with him. The trio left the room, but not before tossing him a snack bar and a cup of water, albeit with some dirty looks from Quiril.  
"Umm, thanks," said Charles, picking up the gifts. Well, it was surprisingly nice of them. For all their weird mannerisms, these three weren't all that bad.

\-----  
Henry walked into the records hall, a large open area with shelves upon shelves of paperwork and documentation stolen, written, or just picked up. The table in the center was relatively clean, saved for a few piles of files at a different seat. Most likely another recruit looking into new areas to raid or build. 

Slumping down into his chair, he reached below the desk, and pulled out another wire. But, instead of plugging it in, he paused. He... he could still read. Why does he always plug himself in? It was faster that way. But why? He could just read the files. He already knows where they are on the shelves. 

Henry dropped the cord, it retracting back where it was stored. Burrowing his face into his hands, he huffed. 

“ ... what the fuck is happening to me? “ 

What was happening to him? He never slipped like this. He never did. Why is it just now, just now that he starts slipping? 

It would be another few hours until he went down to the cell block. He didn’t gather too much from the files found, but it was enough to cover Charles’s history. A star pilot for even his age, and one of the general's favorites. He wasn't as favored by his fellow soldiers though, the reason wasn't specified. Probably because of his enthusiasm, not to mention he was only 28. It was a good play to do the video, thanks to those files talking all about how the general helped him move up the ranks. It reassured him he still had an edge over all of them...

He hoped.

\-----  
Alright, so he was back to square one. Except this time he knew he might have some leverage over Henry. If he was correct in his assumption that Henry did have some kind of attachment to him, then he was at least less likely to be killed. But then he was also stuck here, with basically no way out.  
Trying to escape the airship would be certain death while it was flying, which might be a viable suicide option if things really came to that. Maybe he could take the ship down with him. Then again, he didn't really feel like he was right in killing Artemis, they seemed like the only decent person in this whole clan and didn't deserve to go down with these criminals.

He scratched at the collar, trying to undo it; he really didn't want to offer anyone the option of using it against him again. He was half tempted to pick up the remote and press the button, just out of a morbid curiosity, but that would not be a smart move, so he avoided it.

He wondered if he could tamper with the remote to render it useless...  
His first idea was to throw it on the ground, but instead of breaking it just shocked him again, making his yell out of surprise and pain.  
"Fffffuck!" he swore, rubbing his neck.

\-----  
The door opened, as Henry opened the main doors to the cell block. His eyes lingered over on the other cells, and fell onto the one containing Charles. Pacing over, his shoes didn't make much noise, but his metal foot clanked against the floor. Turning towards the cell, he saw the remote to his collar on the ground.

He ignored it, focusing more on Charles. Stepping closer to the cell, he placed one of his hands, his human one, on the bars. 

" Charles.... "

He slumped down, his hand still gripping onto the bar. He stared into Charles, not with anger, but with... confusion? Longing?

" Did you know me before... all of this? Be honest with me. " He turned his head to the side, staring into the floor. " ... please. "

\-----  
Charles jumped as he turned around and saw Henry. He was tense, ready to bolt to the other side of the room at the first sign of danger.  
But all he got was confusion. He stared at Henry, his brow furrowed.  
"Wha- I-" he stammered, no idea what was going on (which had honestly become the norm for him).  
He took a couple of steps back, worried this might be some kind of elaborate trap to get his guard down.  
"Uhhh...no," he answered honestly, "well... um... not really anyway, the last time I saw you before this was... uhm, well you were supposed to help us take down the Toppats but you joined them instead... I didn't really know you though... we spoke like once."  
He scratched his head awkwardly, utterly flabbergasted by this sudden breakdown.  
\-----  
" I know that much... I just woke up in your chopper with no idea how I got there, and was thrown into the mission. But..."

Henry slumped even more, still not making eye contact with Charles. He... he didn't want to look into those eyes. Those wide, doe wide eyes. His headphones, red, scuffed up form the days' events. 

" Do you... remember anything else? Things that didn't happen yet. Things..... that are no longer possible to get back. "

Henry looked over at his own arm still holding onto the bar. His skin was scarred, but there. Still attached to his body. The part of him that didn't change. His left arm, laid limp beside him, the light dimmed down. His eye was.... dark. Not his dark blue. Dark.

\-----  
Charles continued to stare at Henry, trying to make any sense of what he was saying. It was very cryptic, and he didn't like it. In fact, it scared him a little, this man had truly lost his mind.  
"I dunno... I don't understand at all...what you mean..."  
Something compelled him to keep talking. He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the strange sight of Henry slumped over the bars of his cell in sadness, or whatever it was. It was such a stark contrast to their previous interactions, his confident and sadistic demeanor were all gone. Charles felt... sad, for some reason...he was feeling empathy for this madman...  
"I really don't understand you..." he said, his voice shaking a little.  
\-----  
Henry gave a short laugh. Finally looking up at Charles, his one eye now completely off. His other eye locked with the pilots, longing. He never went this emotional, nothing compared to the time he reawakened with half his vision, and the doctor at his bedside. In that moment, it was rage. But now, it was sadness.

" Who would? Who would understand me, a Toppat Clan leader? A thief.... me. Who would understand... Henry?"

His gaze fell upon the collar still around his neck. The shock collar that was placed around his neck, shocking him whenever a switch was pressed. He could see the red marks where the metal bits touched the skin. He winced. sparing a look around his cell, he saw the remote on the ground. He looked back at Charles. 

" ... I still don't understand you, Charles. Why do I see you in my memories, when this is our first meeting in years? Why do I see you in there... why did you say my name? "

His eye was booting back to life. A bit of blue. Light blue.

" Why did you say my name, Charles? "

\-----  
Charles took another step back, the piercing gaze of that blue eye sending shivers up his spine. What did that even mean?  
"I... I..." he hesitated, searching for words, any words," I-i-i still have no idea what...what you're talking about."  
He instinctively started scratching at his neck, tugging on the collar more and more desperately.  
"I don't know !" he said louder, an inexplicable fear twisting his insides, "I really don't know !"  
\-----  
Henry suddenly started to slowly reach out his arm through the bars. He reached towards Charles, fingers stretching forwards.

" Come here... "

His fingertips were calloused, rough from years of robbing banks, picking locks, and fighting. But his grip was always tight. Now it was relaxed. Posed, almost. Him on one side of the bars, reaching out beyond them. Him, on the side with the exit, back to the toppats. His life. His life reaching out to the only one beyond that sigma.

\-----  
Charles felt as if his heart might stop at any moment. He really didn't want to get anywhere near Henry and yet...  
Something in his subconscious was urging him to do it. Maybe a morbid curiosity for what might happen, maybe he still felt bad for Henry. Against his better judgment, he took a small, shaky step forward. He approached very slowly, his breathing ragged from nerves, with his hands tightly holding onto his headphones and his arms pressed close to his body. 

"W-why...?" he asked hoarsely, his throat locking up, as he shuffled closer, ready to fight if anything bad happened. Why was he even doing this when every fiber of his being was telling him it was a bad idea?

\-----  
As Charles shuffled closer, Henry stood still. The pilot was taking their time to come over to his outstretched hand. He didn’t mind, for once. He could stay there, waiting. 

Charles took another step forward, and Henry could finally reach him. Barely. His fingers brushed against the collar, gently. They ran across it, feeling for something. But all they got was the smooth material of the collar, and the static electricity stored within it. 

So cruel.

“ ... turn around. “  
\-----  
Don’t do it, don’t do it! cried Charles’ gut feeling. However that morbid curiosity persisted, so he did as he was told, albeit very apprehensively, craning his neck to keep an eye on Henry.  
“Don’t hurt me...” he pleaded, his voice shaking a little, as he braced himself for...whatever was about to happen.

\-----  
There it was. 

Henry rummaged inside his coat pocket, then sighed, instead activating his metal arm and reaching through the bars. Grabbing the collar, he took a breath. He never did this before. He just hoped this wouldn't hurt him as well.

" .. stay still. "

He fiddled around with the tie that was securing the collar to Charles's neck. It was different than the others, likely modified to.. suit interrogation. He shook his head. No, no.. don't do that. The material seemed tough. Placing both hands on the collar, he started tugging at it, tearing it bit by bit. After a bit of time, the collar fell to the cell floor with a loud tink. Pulling his hands away, he pulled back from the bars. 

" ... It was stuck. Had to take it off. " 

He kept looking at Charles now, no longer avoiding eye contact. His eyes did flicker from him and his neck, the area where the prongs stuck out still red. He should bring the doctor to take a look at him... Maybe  
\-----  
Charles honestly was about to bolt when he felt Henry fidgeting with his collar, but swallowed his fight-or-flight urge. He felt the fabric rip bit by bit, and eventually, the collar clattered to the floor.  
He turned back around, rubbing his neck, and looked at Henry, a bit surprised at this uncharacteristic act of... kindness, he supposed?  
“Uhhhm...thanks... I guess...” he said quietly.  
He took a couple of steps back, unsure of what to do now.

\-----  
Henry was still looking at Charles. He didn't know why he even came down here. Why did he... the questions. Files. Information. Crash. Fire.

Fire, Charles was on fire. He was burning. But he just stood there, staring at him. Henry stumbled back, his bionic eye blinking. He stumbled against the wall, his robotic arm twitching, a few sparks shooting out. Grabbing it, he tried stopping it from moving, cursing the entire way.

" Fuck, shit nonono, NO! "

Slamming the arm against the wall, it dented inwards, and the arm went limp. Henry was breathing heavily. Snapping his head towards Charles, the glint of red on the bars, signified the current color in his eye. Henry didn't even wait to hear the pilot's answer. He just stormed off, and left Charles alone, in his cell, the shock collar discarded on the floor, with a remote.

\-----  
Charles jumped at this sudden outburst, clamping his hands to his mouth in an effort not to yell. He stumbled and fell backward in shock, and stared at Henry with terrified eyes, breathing very fast.  
Just for a moment, he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, Henry wasn’t as bad as he’d initially shown himself to be, but now he’d just done a full 180 and gone back to crazy.  
His eye turning red made Charles want to scream and run, he looked deranged, terrifying.  
Once he’d left, Charles clutched his chest, hiccuping from how fast he was breathing and trying to stop himself from choking on his own air. He stared at the torn-up collar on the ground.

Once again, he just had even more questions.


	5. Chapter 5

Henry was pacing down the hall, his metal foot clunking against the flooring. He had to think. Why, why the fire, the window, the stars. Stars, why stars? Why.

Why did he overload? Why? Charles. Charles was on fire. He was on fire, and he saw that, He saw that and he overloaded. Why. Why was he...

" If you wish to ask me something, stop pacing outside the bay, yah? "

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien opened the door, her hair frazzled, and her glasses tucked into her shirt. Rubbing her eyes, her eyes lingered down to his mechanical arm. Frowning, she looked back up to Henry, a knowing look in her eyes. Motioning him to step inside, she went deeper into her lab. It was still a mess like last time. Parts were tossed around, bolts were contained in various paper cups. Tools were on another table, around a small array of wires. 

" Come on, lets get your arm on the table, da? " 

Henry complied, sitting down in a chair where the doctor already took her seat, fiddling around with a few tools. The arm was opened, and she immediately sighed. Getting to work almost immediately, the silence filled with buzzes from the soldering iron, fixing the ripped wires. 

" How did you break it? "

" ... "

" How. "

" The pilot. Charles. He.. he was burning. But, at the same time, he wasn't. I panicked. "

The doctor paused, and looked up to Henry, eyebrows raised.

" So just because your... friend... was burning, you broke your arm. " 

Henry looked away, staring down at his open arm. Wires, sticking out. Sparking. 

" I think it was a memory. But, a memory that hasn't happened yet. "

\-----  
It took Charles several minutes to stop hyperventilating and be able to think clearly again, which he helped along by tapping rhythmically on his headphones. He didn’t know why this helped, it was just a stimming behavior he found soothing.  
He sighed. He was just about done with this place, and even his curiosity about what Henry’s deal was and his mysterious past weren’t enough to eclipse the fact that he’d had enough. He needed to get out of this place, and back to the General asap.   
He walked up to the cell door, examining it, rattling the bars, and kicking them in frustration, hurting his foot like an idiot.   
After hopping around clutching his foot and swearing for a good few seconds, he noticed a remote on the floor. He picked it up and pressed the button on it, and the cell door swung open.  
“Oh... it was that easy, huh ?” he said out loud to himself, resisting the urge to facepalm himself into the next dimension.  
He poked his head out, and shuffled out of the cell cautiously.  
He was going to escape this time, he had to.

\-----  
Dr. Vinschpinsilstien eventually reached over, unscrewing a few panels on Henry's shoulder, revealing a few latches Pulling them out, Henry's arm got disconnected, a few wires still connected the now two separate entities. A few bits of uncapping the wires, she handed Henry a panel. 

" Your stupid outburst broke the arm. I need more time to fix this. Keep that on to cover the wires... I'll call you when I'm done... " 

And with that, Henry was pushed out of the lab, the door shutting behind him. Now, with one less arm, Henry was practically relegated to his room. Making his way down the halls, he looked down one. The one leading back to Charles. Staring for a few moments, he just shook his head, and continued the opposite way.  
\-----  
Charles tiptoed down the corridor, hugging the wall as much as possible to avoid being seen. Of course, his bright red headphones were a dead giveaway, but there was no way he was removing them. He continued walking, a hand over his mouth until he spotted in front of him...

Henry?

Charles stumbled back a little, it was a good thing he had his mouth covered or he might have made a noise of surprise. Luckily Henry was far enough away so that he didn't notice him, and he suddenly realized that one of his arms was missing, the metal one.   
Okay, this was good, it meant if he had to get past him he'd have an easier time escaping.  
He turned around, intending to take an alternate path to the cockpit, when suddenly he came face to face with Mars.

"Oh yo, it's you!" they said nonchalantly. Charles froze, at a loss for what to do. Mars looked past him at Henry, and with a smirk, called out.  
"Hey! Boss! I think yer pilot boy's out his cell!"

\-----  
Henry perked up as Mars called out to him. But hearing the mention of Charles made him whip around to stare down the hall. Making his way down the corridor, his face was painted with a frown. 

“ Mars I swear, I just visited him in his cell, he can’t.. “

He turned the corner, and there was Charles. And Mars. There was a beat of silence, and Henry scowled. 

“ Why are you out of your cell, Pilot? Cared for a nightly stroll? “

\-----  
Charles had a moment where he was tempted to just strangle Mars right there, but it was too late now. Mars stepped aside with a disgustingly smug expression, looking from Henry to Charles and back again. The pilot turned around shakily.  
"I...I...I..." stuttered Charles, rooted to the spot, desperately thinking up an excuse.   
"...I mean it is pretty...uh... stuffy in there...not a lotta room to..." he said, sweating, "...stretch my legs, I guess..."

Okay, there was no way he was buying that terrible excuse. Great, now he was either gonna have to run for it or have his ass kicked again.

\-----  
Henry gave a blank expression of ‘ Really? Really now? ‘ but just shook his head. 

“ You really are starting to get on my nerves, you do know that right? What are you really trying to do? Try to kill me in my sleep? Or call your dad back in the military? “ 

His one remaining hand was on his hip, staring at the both of them. He turned to Mars. 

“ What are you even doing up this late Mars? “

\-----  
Mars took a relaxed pose, shrugging.   
"Bit of a night owl, I am," they said, "an' I was gettin' Artemis summink fer their allergies, they're actin' up again."  
Charles glanced around, his mind racing. What now? No seriously, WHAT NOW????  
He took a deep breath, held it nervously for a moment, and charged as fast as he could past Henry all while singing himself some fanfare in a freaked out tone of voice.  
This was literally all he could think of, so Greatest Plan it was! If he could just get to the cockpit he could potentially figure something out from there; after all, he was an expert helicopter pilot, how hard could an flying an airship be, really?

\-----  
Henry was about to mention that’s the medical bay was already locked down because of the doctors work on his arm when the wavering voice of fanfare rang out, and Charles was now running past the both of them, singing some godforsaken toon. 

A few moments of shock, and Henry started barreling past him. He was just there, he could have grabbed him! 

“ Mars! Come and help me catch this fucker! “  
Charles kept running, his frantic singing getting higher-pitched the closer Henry got. Thank god he had good cardio from his training.  
Mars followed along behind, calling out various stupid things like: "Tackle 'im so he's in kissing range!" and "I call dibs on ring-bearer!" and overall being extremely obnoxious.   
"Dammit, you weirdo we're not a couple !" Charles yelled back, his voice getting hoarse.  
\-----  
Henry was REALLY starting to get pissed at Mars. Goddammit, he didn’t like him! 

“ MARS I SWEAR IF YOU THROW ONE MORE FLIRTY LIKE I /WILL/ SEND AMANDA AFTER YOU AGAIN! “ 

He honestly didn’t want to tackle Charles, as he could move out of the way and make him fall flat on his face. Only one other option now. 

Writing from his feet rose up, and an orange glow came from the bottom of his.... shoes? They burst out into a ball of heat, propelling Henry forwards.

\-----  
Mars cackled out loud, but did heed Henry's warning and stopped talking, because let's be real after their last run-in with Amanda they did not want a repeat of that disaster. They slowed down a bit once they realized what Henry was doing, and followed along at a jog.

Charles yelled in surprise and terror as he made the mistake of looking behind him. He urged his legs to move faster, his heart pumping so fast it might just collapse in on itself.   
Shit shit shit shit !!! he thought madly, internally praying to anyone who'd listen for a helping hand.

\-----  
Henry was now /very/ pissed. First, Charles crashed into him. Then, Sven sliced off his finger. And then, after getting this guy some water, out of pure sympathy, they lie to him. AND THEN HE GETS OUT OF HIS CELL AFTER HE GETS THE SHOCK COLLAR OFF!!  
" CHHHARRRLESSSSS! "  
He finally smashes into him at the end of the hall, his one human arm wrapping around his waist. Quickly aiming one of his boots to the metal wall, he slowed down, only leaving a black scorch mark from his flames. He stared at Charles, almost with a deathly glare.  
" You.. are in so much trouble. "  
\-----  
Charles let out a high-pitched yelp as Henry collided with him. He was so terrified that he couldn't even speak, fear contorted his face so much that it hurt, and he was quivering like a leaf in the wind. His breathing still hadn't slowed down from his frantic running, and the panting was punctuated with some fearful whimpers. He stared at Henry with wide eyes, deathly afraid, perhaps more so than any of their previous encounters, or even in his entire life.

Mars caught up, finally, but when they saw the look on Henry's face they dipped into a nearby doorway. They didn't fancy dealing with that nightmare right now. They gave a silent eulogy for Charles, poor guy.

\-----  
Henry was hovering, still with an iron grasp with his human arm around Charles's waist when he turned to the hallway, observing an altercation that has erupted. Mars now out of wherever he ducked into, and a female with a rival ran out, almost slamming into the wall as she burst out.   
" FOR FUCK SAKES MARS, STAY OUT OF MY ROOM! ! SWEAR- Oh! Boss...."  
She turned, staring at Henry. She took a glance at Charles, but looked back at Henry. She looked a bit nervous.   
" . . . Amanda, you get 5 minutes of target practice. " Henry landed onto the floor, still holding onto Charles. " I need to transport the pilot to a more secure location. "  
Amanda, or whatever her name was, smiled wide, and without a second thought, ran down the hallway, laughing.   
" Oh, you are SOOO SCREWED Mars! "

\-----  
“Mandy chill! CHILL! It was an accident!” yelled Mars as they sprinted down the hall back to their room, where they could get Artemis and Quiril to protect them.

Charles looked at the two Toppats disappear around the corner, and this is when he knew for a fact. The Toppats were all fucking insane.  
He winced as Henry’s grip around his waist tightened, and attempted to pry his fingers off him. His breathing hadn’t slowed down and he might actually be hyperventilating right now, his mind was too befuddled to really know.   
“...why ? Why me? Why do you wanna keep me around, I don’t get it!” he muttered frantically, “what are you even planning on doing with me ?”

\-----  
Henry looked back at Charles. He didn't answer this time. He just continued down the hallway. Eventually, he got to an elevator. Pressing the button he stepped back, waiting for the lift to come down. Looking back down at Charles, he stayed silent. Why was he keeping him around? What was his plan for him?   
" ... I didn't lie before. Back in the medical bay. I do like you. "   
The doors opened, as Henry walked into the lift, and after taking another look at his arm still around Charles, took a step back, and lifted his foot to tap the button for one of the upper floors.  
" You do have information. But you also triggered something in my programming. Something I... didn't expect. "  
The lift kept ascending. Henry squeezed Charles a bit closer.   
" .. and you will tell me why "

\-----  
Charles just blinked, tapping his headphones again in an attempt to calm himself down.   
“...tell... tell you what, exactly?” he asked in a trembling voice. So he had been right about Henry having some kind of attachment to him, and that also confirmed that he had a possessive cyborg yandere type to deal with.  
“Wha-what the hell do you think I can tell you? I’m literally so fucking clueless right now, I have no idea why you like me so much, and if you want my honest opinion I think you’re fucking insane,” he said, his tone getting more and more intense the longer he talked.

\-----  
Charles hit the floor with a thud, rubbing his sides. Even with his human arm, Henry had an iron grip, and it hurt quite a bit.  
He noticed how empty the room was, and he did not like it. No witnesses for Henry to do whatever the hell he wanted. Then again, he had the entire clan wrapped around his finger, so it’s not like it would matter.   
He stood up, almost losing his balance, and looked up at Henry, trying to meet his eye despite how obviously scared and confused he was.

\-----  
" Get up "  
Henry stayed by the door, his one good arm going through his jacket. Eventually, he pulled out a pistol, and held it by the barrel. Holding it out to Charles, he smiled.   
" You didn't take your chance last time. I'm allowing you to have a second chance. "  
He smirked. He was curious how well he would shoot, especially with a missing finger. If he was joining the Toppats... in due time, they would need to train. And this seemed like the perfect time.

\-----  
Charles blinked, looking from the gun to Henry in surprise.   
“Wh-huh ?” He took the gun hesitantly, looking at it again.  
Did he really want him to have another shot? Really?   
He looked much too calm, it didn’t sit right with Charles. But... this was an opportunity that he’d probably never get again. He could kill Henry, escape the airship and report back to the General with a mission success as well.   
He aimed the gun between Henry’s eyes, trying his best to keep it steady despite his hands refusing to stop shaking.   
Was it nerves? Was he still shaken from his paralyzing terror earlier? 

Did he even want to kill him? 

...

Yes, of course, he did. He was too dangerous to be left alive, and he now had a personal reason to hate him. He did hate him, he’d caused him so much pain over the past days. He was evil, and had to die. Dammit hands, stop shaking.  
His breathing was quickening again, he had the perfect moment. Why didn’t he just take the shot ??

Was it because, like Henry had to him, he’d grown...attached to Henry? His own stupid little heart hoping that maybe...just maybe... there was a chance things would get better? That whatever reason Henry had for his sudden liking for the pilot, there was some alternate timeline where they could be together...?

His heart almost skipped a beat.

He pulled the trigger.  
\-----  
The shot rang out within the enclosed room. A few seconds, and the clink of the ammo sleeve clanked to the floor. The last bullet was shot. But where?

Eye. His eye. 

The bionic eye was sputtering. The reinforced glass was now cracked, the bullet stuck within the sheet. The light behind it was fizzing in and out, malformed colors shining against the darkness of every corner. Henry shot a hand up to his eye, gripping at it. The bullet was wedged into it, not easily pulled out. His voice was garbled. Why was it garbled, he got his eye hit, not his throat. 

" EhhEheHHH.. NiCE ShOTT thErE ChARRRLessss.. I... "

Henry yelled out in pain, his eye sparking out. Sparkes flew every which way like a lit sparkler on a cold New Years Day. His arm tightened around it, slightly getting burned by the sparks flying out. He never reacted like this when his eye was shot out. Usually, it was a shattered pane of glass, but this was affecting his programing. Something else. He...

He was really losing himself

\-----  
Charles gasped, stumbling back a bit. He clutched the empty gun in both hands, still processing what had just happened.   
He hadn’t managed to kill Henry, and a part of him was...relieved, in a way. He tried to ignore that part.   
He hunched his shoulders defensively, fearful that Henry might retaliate. The robotic glitching was really freaky.   
He reached out a hand, almost to make sure he was okay...  
Charles covered his mouth, feeling sick again. Why though? Why did was he suddenly concerned for Henry’s wellbeing?   
If he was getting Stockholm Syndrome... well safe to say that would be bad.

\-----  
His eye was glitching. His mind was fraying. He... He...

“ H- Henry? You there? “

A voice rang out throughout his mind. Crisp, clear as day. almost like it wasn't just in his own broken mind. Almost like it was being played through his headset, right by his ear.   
It was. The room echoed as the voice rang louder in Henry's mind.

“ Man… that roughed me up. Got him though. “

Not again, no, not this dream. No... He had it once. It was one of the longer ones he had, right after he was injured in his eye. He was knocked out as the doctor worked on saving what was left, and installing a new orbital socket. He was.... on a mission. A mission with...

“ Gotta be another escape pod around here somewhere. “

Them. It was them. But was it really them? They were here, in front of him. He was there, albeit with one less pinky on one hand. But he was still there. Visible, his face was visible.

“ We did it though. We got em. “

The glass. Two hands, banging on the glass. Two human hands.

“Pretty good plan.”

His breathing. He couldn't breathe.

“ You could say it was the greatest- “

" NO!"

Henry yelled out. His eye went dead after one last burst of light. He curled up against the door, heaving air into his lungs. No, no... breath Henry, breath.  
\-----  
Charles was convinced he was losing his goddamn mind. He recoiled when Henry had yelled, expecting the worst, but after moments of waiting with his eyes slammed shut, and nothing happening to him, he opened one eye apprehensively.  
“Uhh?” he let out in a noise of pure confusion.   
Did he really hurt him that bad? Bad enough to warrant him curling up on the floor in obvious anguish?   
Charles gently set down the gun, scared to make any sudden noise, and shuffled a bit closer to Henry.   
“...you...you ok ?” he asked, reaching out a hand and, after a moment’s hesitation where he thought just maybe this was a trap, he touched Henry softly on the shoulder.   
Once again, he didn’t know why he felt even the smallest amount of compassion for this monster, but the feeling was there, whether he cared to admit it or not.

\-----  
The tap of his shoulder made him flinch violently, but as Henry laid his eye on Charles, it watered. An arm went around Charles, but.. this time, instead of just going around his waist, it just went around him, tilting so Henry would burry himself into Charles's chest. His eye watered. Deep breaths came soon after, and Henry's hand closed a bit, grabbing a fistful of his jacket.   
" You're not dead You're not dead You're not dead .... "  
Henry kept repeating the phrase, muffled by the pilot's jacket. He didn't want to leave this room, no... he couldn't.  
" Don't leave me again Charles.. "

\-----  
Charles awkwardly patted Henry’s shoulder, really taken aback.   
“I- I’m not dead, I’m f... well, not fine either...but...yea,” he stuttered, his mind struggling to comprehend what the hell was going on.  
What is your deal Henry...? he thought, frowning. He was getting so many mixed signals, even someone, unlike him, who could adequately read social cues would have no idea what to think.  
“I- what ?” He fell silent at the strange request. He was trying to escape so he’d be leaving eventually but... he hadn’t the guts to say so out loud.   
He’d come to see Henry as a dangerous madman over their time together, insane to a terrifying degree but here...all he saw was a broken man, a man he couldn’t help but feel for. Whatever had happened in his past...he had no way of knowing, but it had to have been hard.

“I...I won’t...” he said, unsure himself of whether that was a lie or the truth.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting interesting

It lasted for a bit, Henry hugging Charles in the dark room. His breathing was getting back under control, due to being next to Charles. But he knew he couldn't stay here. Apprehensively slipping his arm out from around Charles's back, his wobbling legs pulled him up from the ground. Looking away, he held out his hand to Charles. He... he knew that he wouldn't leave him. So why was he so scared of him bolting?

\-------

Charles definitely could have run for it, but looking back, his previous two attempts had utterly failed so it wouldn't be much use. He'd have to go along with whatever was happening until he had a good opening.  
And besides, this time he didn't...really want to run.  
He looked at Henry's outstretched hand, taking in all the scars and calloused fingertips. Hesitantly, he gently extended his own hand, and allowed Henry to take it.

Man, what was happening to him, really?

\-------

Getting the door open after a few failed attempts, his eye flickering, and glitching out, the two of them walked back out into the hallway. Henry looked up and down each hall as they passed them, scanning for any toppats. Just because they were in a private area of the airship didn't mean others would be contained within their rooms. Their trip went well though, as they ended up next to a door with a panel, and as Henry pressed his hand up to the panel, he leaned against Charles for comfort. Just because he wasn't holding his hand anymore didn't mean he wished he still was.  
".... This room should be safe.. "  
The doors opened to a decently sized room, with a few decorations placed around the area. A bookshelf there, a bed bushed into the corner, and a door on the side slightly ajar, revealing a bathroom. Henry took a look over at Charles, and frowned.  
".... You really need to get washed up... "

\-------  
Charles looked into the room, tilting his head slightly. He spotted the bathroom, and then glanced at Henry.  
"I'm not letting you bathe me, just so we're clear," he said, blushing slightly, "but um... thanks, I guess..."

\-------

Henry went red in the face, sputtering. He didn't realize it sounded like that. He didn't mean to... but even through his own flustered cheeks, he heard a small piece of him laugh at Charles's own pink dusted cheeks.  
" W- well, I.... uh... I... "  
Henry just reacted by pushing him with his one arm towards the doorway. Once he was close enough, he turned away, fidgeting with his shirt.  
" J- Just get in... Use what you need "  


\-------

"R-right," said Charles, making his way towards the bathroom. It had been a little bit since he'd had a proper shower. With one last look at Henry, he locked the door. He was unbuttoning his shirt when he nervously decided to check for any cameras. Just because he was in enemy territory, and he didn't want any of...that...happening. But he didn't find any. 

He figured he'd have to take off the bandages on his leg and hand instead of getting them wet. The wounds had definitely stopped bleeding, but the flesh was still pink and damaged, and it hurt whenever he touched anything.

After washing, which basically was just him sitting in the tub and letting the water fall over his shoulders, he got out and dried off, clumsily putting his clothes back on. He'd had some time to think, to gather his thoughts, and he'd put some serious thought into his situation, specifically about Henry. He'd spent a lot of time thinking about Henry come to think of it... He sighed, and unlocked the door, now fully dressed but missing his jacket and shoes, and stepped out awkwardly.  
"....okay uhhhh....I'm done," he said shyly.

\-------

Henry really didn’t know what to do as Charles walked into the bathroom to wash up. His closet had a few extra items. Sheets, pillows, blankets. Bringing a few over to an overstuffed armchair by the bookshelf adjacent to the bedside. He.... never had anyone else sleep over. He ... needed to make a place got for them to sleep, that he remembered. 

. . . Charles would figure it out 

Walking over to his closet again, he started to shrug off his dress shirt. As much as he loved those, he simply didn’t sleep on them. His back, now visible to whoever was in the other side of the room, had a full view of his back. His metallic spine, a dull shine, and the surrounding tissue, pink and agitated.

\-------

Charles froze as he laid eyes upon Henry's back. He couldn't take his eyes off the metal spine embedded within it, it was...disturbing...he had no idea that his cybernetics ran that deep. But it also handily distracted him from the fact that Henry was currently shirtless, that fact hadn't registered yet, because if it had he would be entering gay panic mode right now.  
Charles cleared his throat and shuffled towards Henry, still staring uncomfortably at his spine.  
"So uh...are we just... am I just gonna sleep in here or..." he asked uncertainly, finally wrenching his gaze away and towards the single bed.  
Wait... this was Henry's room, wasn't it? Where was he gonna sleep then?

\-------

“ If you wish to. I was currently in the processing and make you own right here. “  
He pointed over an overstuffed chair with a footrest, a pillow with a basic blanket was already set up.  
“ I didn’t know you were the one to sleep with others, Charles. If you really wished to sleep with me this badly. “  
That got a soft chuckle out of him, now slipping on a much looser, oversized shirt. Once again covering up his back.

\-------

It took Charles a moment to realize what was going on, but once the realization hit, his face instantly turned beet red.  
“Nononono !! I-I-I didn’t mean- that’s not- No!!“ he sputtered, frantically waving his arms in dismissal. He hid his blushing face in his hands, stepping back a few paces.  
“I’ll- I’ll take the chair...” he mumbled through his hands, refusing to look at Henry in embarrassment. He curled up on the chair, burying his face into the pillow, the blush spreading to his ears and neck.

\-------

Charles gazed out the window into the vast void of space. He rubbed his bruised eye with a bloody sleeve, paying no mind to the unconscious man at his feet, instead staring at a faint red dot in the distance floating back towards Earth.

As the alarm blared around him and the lights flashed, he knew he would not make it out alive. Strangely, he was okay with that.

Because Henry was safe.

He had been speaking, but he couldn't make out the words coming from his own mouth. A flash of light blinded him as he was hit by a wave of searing heat, and then...

Charles awoke with a start. Blinking a couple times, he remembered where he was, he was on the Toppat airship, curled up in a chair next to Henry's bed. And he was a prisoner there, technically. He yawned, stretching out his aching joints, and rubbed his eyes.  
What a weird dream. The more he tried to remember, the more details trickled away like he was trying to hold water in his hands. Whatever happened, it was just a dream anyway.  
He looked over at Henry, squinting slightly in the dark, to see if he was awake.

\-------

Henry was still snoozing in his little corner bed, his breath fading in and out. It was a long day for him, running around, and taking care of... 

He rose up, his mechanical spine whirring, supporting his back as he got up. Looking around the room, he saw Charles. 

Oh yeah. He was here. . . Why was he here?  
The main door beeped a few times as Henry was pulling out the cord from his neck. His neck snapped over, and a bit of panic set in. 

“ Henry, I fixed arm. Let me in, da? “

Well shit, Henry was fucked.

\-------

Charles didn't say anything, he tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, and observed what was going on. He laid his head on the pillow, but kept his eyes open.  
The beeping startled him, he let out a small gasp and bolted upright. Well so much for pretending to sleep.

\-------

Henry got up from his bed in a flustered hurry. He went to pick up the bundle of blankets to toss it into the bathroom, Charles included, he almost failed to remember he was still missing an arm. He looked up to Charles , now a bit despite. 

“ Charles you have to hide. She can’t know that you’re here. “ 

His voice was low, pleading. 

“ Henry, open da door, ya? “

\-------

"What? Where ?" he whispered frantically, untangling his legs from the blankets. Also why would be a good question, but right now his guts were telling him to just hide. He scrambled out the chair and into the bathroom.  
Wait, he might have a way out! He could just slip out when the door opened right? But...

He had promised he wouldn't leave. Granted that was because he'd been afraid of what might happen if he didn't. And no, his feelings towards Henry had nothing to do with it, they were still enemies in his eyes. That's what he told himself anyway.

\-------

Henry has just enough time to leverage the extra blankets over to his bed when the door clicked open, and the doctor stumbled in. 

“ Finally, vat took you so lon- Henry! “

Marching up to him, she poked at his still cracked bionic eye. 

“ Vat the hell happened?! “ Her accent came out thicker, her frustration mounting. 

“ Doc, it’s fine, I was about to replace it- “ 

“ Henry, you baffoon... “ The doctor set the new arm down onto the chair, and went over to one of the drawers shoved by the wall, rummaging through it. 

“ You are very lucky you have extras, Henry. I work all night on the arm and you go and break your eye. “ 

She came back, a new pane of glass in her hands. Pointing down at the bedside, Henry shook his head as he and the doctor took their place. 

“ You idiot ... you keep breaking yourself. Vats going on, is it that Charles boy?

\-------

Charles pressed his ear to the door, one side of his headphones pushed aside. He was still kinda groggy, and he was having trouble paying attention as nothing that was being said was particularly noteworthy, until his name was mentioned anyway.  
Because his knees were beginning to hurt, he went to stand up, and it was at this point that his foot slipped on the mat that was on the ground, and he fell chest-first into the floor.  
"Ow fuck !" he yelped, immediately covering his mouth in alarm.

\-------

Henry was about to answer, pink in the face when the crash from the bathroom made both of their heads snap towards the door. The doctor looked over at Henry, a tired look in her eyes. 

“ .... you brought him to your room. “ 

Oh wow. Out of all the comments that were thrown at him in the past few days, Henry was really blushing this time. Completely red in the face, the doctor laughed and looked back towards the door. 

“ Charles! I know you’re there, da? Get in here with us “

\-------

Charles cracked the door open after picking himself up off the floor, determinedly looking anywhere but Henry and Dr. V. His face was blushing bright pink.  
"Y-yeah ?" he said awkwardly, slipping out the door into the main room and pressing his back to the wall.

\-------

" Any injuries? "  
She continued fiddling with Henry's eye, unscrewing the metallic border, and pulling it out. The glass pane came out, and she slipped it into her pocket. Swiftly replacing it, she spun it once to set it, then tapped it.  
" Tighten that. "  
Henry complied, almost robotically. Well, he was a robot, so it wasn't a stretch. The doctor got to work with his arm, but got stuck with the sleeve of his shirt. She shook her head.  
" Henry, you need to take your shirt off, da? "  
A sputtering Henry was what followed. Looking over to Charles, she sighed.  
" ... Move back to the bathroom. "

\-------

"Uhh, okay?" he complied, a little disappointed. Wait, no, why would be disappointed? Did he want to see Henry shirtless ??? What was wrong with him, he was Henry's prisoner, not his goddamn boyfriend!  
He was just intrigued by his metal spine, yeah, that was it.

Unable to resist, he peeked out of the bathroom, trying to avoid being spotted. His blushing intensified when he realized what he was doing, but he didn't duck back inside. 

Damn, he was a gay mess and it showed.

\-------

Henry pulled off his shirt one-handed with relative ease. His chest was mostly human, with his upper shoulder being the only main metal area. His chest was covered in scars, but that didn’t deter from the fact that he was... well toned. A bit scuffed up but still... oh what a sight to behold.

The doctor glanced over with her eyes, and was mentally laughing hysterically. Oh, this was funny. And she never laughed this much, at least to herself. These two were going to be interesting. But, she had to get back to work. Fiddling around with the panel, it popped off and showed the wires capped off. Taking each one off and reattaching each one to its respective area, she finally clicked the metal arm in. 

“ It works, ya? “

Henry twisted the arm around a few times, then nodded. 

“ ... Thanks “

\-------

Charles almost choked, clapping both hands to his mouth. If this were a cheesy anime his nose would be gushing with blood, but as of now his entire blood supply had migrated to his face, and he felt slightly light-headed. He couldn't look away, but this time he didn't really want to.  
It was at that moment it hit him like a helicopter to the face: he was indeed gay for Henry. The man who had imprisoned and tortured him, the leader of the Toppats, and a terrifying maniac. He was attracted to him. That was the cherry on top of this nightmare cake.

Just his luck really.

He honestly sort of hated himself for it, he couldn't just do one mission without falling for the enemy, apparently. But also because this would make it even harder to escape, psychologically. And joining the Toppats was out of the question. He might have feelings for their leader but he refused to become a criminal just for a crush.

\-------

The doctor turned around to exit the room, but froze when she saw two eyes, with a pair of red headphones peeking out from the bathroom. She smiled, waving at him. She turned to Henry one last time, smirking.  
" Looks like I lost the bet. You two have fun. "  
And with that, her heels clicked out of the room. Henry... well.. he was now a mess. Still shirtless, he scrambled to grab his shirt from next to him. Pulling it on, he hid his face in his hands, flustered beyond recognition.

\-------

Oh shit, he'd been busted! He ducked back into the bathroom, burying his face in the blankets, until Dr. V left the room. Once the sound of her heels faded, Charles collapsed onto the floor, screaming into the fabric in embarrassment.  
There was an uncomfortably long silence, in which Charles tried desperately to backtrack and convince himself he was imagining his newly discovered feelings towards Henry, but there was no denying it anymore.  
Charles took a deep breath, and broke the silence.  
"Man...this sucks..." he mumbled into the blanket, "...was I really that obvious?"

\-------

Henry almost didn't even hear him under his mumbling, and the distance. Looking up, he saw the bathroom door still ajar. He... fuck... he was hopeless. So fucking hopeless. He falls in love with the one person, the one guy, who he knew from his past. The one his clan tortured, the one who made him lose his finger.  
Standing up, he took a few apprehensive steps forward. A pause. Then, a few more.  
He was at the door now. His hand went up, and knocked on the open door, pushing it a bit forward.  
" .. May I come in... Charles? "

\-------

Charles didn’t move nor took his face out of the blankets, he was still too devastated and ashamed. His heart skipped a beat upon hearing Henry ask to enter, in a good way this time.  
“...yeah...” he said, trying his best to calm the fuck down before he even thought of looking up.

\-------

Henry walked over, and looked down at Charles, hunched down against the wall. Two more steps, and he slid down the cabinets, sitting opposite to him. The bathroom wasn't that large, their feet nearly touching. Henry looked down at his own hangs, fidgeting. God he wished he could hide his face in his shirt.  
" .... are you... " Henry spoke, but trailed off. No, he couldn't ask. Not like this

\-------

Charles peeked out from behind the blanket, looking shyly at Henry, and down at their feet as he subconsciously wiggled his toes nervously.  
“...what ? Am I what...?” he asked, genuinely confused.  
The blanket was placed in such a way that it hid the majority of his face still except his eyes, which glinted as they started filling with tears.

\-------

Henry took a chance to look up, and immediately melted at the sight of Charles, his tears falling down like tiny translucent pearls. He felt his own eye water.  
" Hey, hey... "  
Henry slowly got onto his knees, and shuffled towards Charles, reaching out with his human hand. He held his cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the few streaks on his face.  
" Don't... don't cry... "

\-------

“Nghk-“ Charles’ throat made an involuntary noise, and he buried his face into the blanket again, soaking up the tears and finally looking up.  
His cheeks and nose were tinted red and he was extremely flustered, but he’d calmed enough to be able to look Henry in the eye.  
“Uhh...sorry,” he said, “I-I know I shouldn’t have...I should have just...not looked...I made stuff uncomfortable for you.......”  
He trailed off, blinking new tears away from his eyes.  
“...can I ask you something?” he muttered, and he didn’t wait for permission to continue:  
“Why...uh...why are you being...so nice to me... right now?”

\-------

Henry didn't know the true answer to that right off the bat. He really didn't know. One moment he was walking after completing another raid, stealing precious items. The next, he had a pilot he knew from before in a cell, with one less pinky on one hand. His dreams came up again, but after a day they were calmer. He, Henry, was calmer.  
" ... I... I feel, calm. Around you. You make me, calm. "  
His head went a tad bit lower. His eyes lingered, then darted away.  
".. You.. bring out.... the .. human, in me "

\-------

Charles felt his heart squeeze from those words, and the tears came back tenfold, spilling down his pink cheeks uncontrollably. Oh god, that was not the answer he was expecting and he was not emotionally prepared for it.  
“Oh...” was all he could say.  
He put one hand over his heart and the other (the one with a missing finger) over his mouth, attempting to contain the swelling emotion in his chest.

\-------

Henry didn’t even wait for anything else. He leaned towards Charles, his lips just brushing onto the pilots...  
Except, he paused. His voice came out, just above a whisper. 

“ ... May I? “


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The traitor meets with the betrayed

Charles’s eyes widened, and he froze for a moment. He glanced at Henry’s lips, cracked and world-weary, then into his eyes. Would he ever be forgiven for this? Hell, would he be able to forgive himself for giving in?   
He’d been through so much, so much hurt, so much confusion, all leading up to this moment. He could allow himself this reward, just this once.

He nodded gently, his own voice mimicking Henry’s whisper.  
“...yes.”

\-------

Henry didn’t even wait for a change of heart. His lips went up against Charles’s, and it was over. He brought up his metallic arm on the other side of his face, softly holding his cheeks. 

Is... is this what it feels to be human? This feeling of warmth in your chest. The feeling in your heart that makes you tingle. 

Henry pulled back, and looked into Charles’s eyes. Smiling at him. He was smiling a genuine smile. Not malicious, not pained, just... a smile.

\-------

Charles leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes as he let the remaining tears trickle down his face. He reached out and pinched Henry’s sleeve, feeling the soft fabric between his fingers.   
Was everything worth it just for this kiss? Hell no, he’d lost a finger for fuck’s sake!  
But, to him anyway, this moment was just enough compensation for all his pain.

As they broke apart, Charles opened his eyes, blinking away the tears so he could see Henry’s smile.  
The nicest smile he’d ever laid eyes upon. This was the Henry he liked, he wanted to keep forever.  
He smiled back, giggling shyly.

\-------

Henry tilted forward, touching his foreheads with Charles's. He was... happy. Truly happy in this moment. Here, stuck on the bathroom floor, sitting in his lap. His first real memory. Not from the Toppats, not from revenge, but from Charles.   
" I... never thought, this would happen. Never, never in so many lives. "  
Henry looked down at Charles's hand, the one still all bandaged up. Slowly bringing his arm down, to bring it in-between them, he looked at Charles, with meaning.  
" I... I promise you... I'll make sure no one huts you again. No one... "  
Henry's eye watered, as he bowed his head down.  
" ... even me "

\-------

Charles stared at Henry, blushing softly. Ever so gently, he wrapped his arms around Henry’s neck, and hugged him.  
“Thanks...” he said, barely a whisper.   
Henry’s words made him feel safe now, and he felt like he finally understood, at least somewhat. If his presence stabilized Henry, made him happy, then he wanted to stay, at least for now.  
“...I’ll stay with you... if you want me to.”

\-------

Henry didn't even need to say anything. He just nodded, wrapping his own arms around Charles.   
It was a bit until Henry let go, partially. Looking at Charles, he frowned. It was a sudden thought that crossed his mind, but an important one.  
" . . . Hey, I know... that we're safe, here, at the moment. But... others are going to notice you're out of the cell. We... we need to get you back to your general. "

\-------

Charles grimaced.  
“Oh yea, I uh, forgot about that...” he said, tapping his headphones pensively.   
“W-wait, couldn’t you- like- tell your guys to, um, like, back off, or something?” he added.

\-------

Charles blushed in embarrassment. Henry's obvious frustration made it clear that he'd said something stupid again.   
"Right, right... my bad," he apologized, looking down, "so uhhh, yeah let's, like, go do that I guess..."  
He stood up, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, and went to pick up his jacket and shoes.

\-------

Henry watched as Charles got his shoes together, following him. But as he went to grab his jacket, he paused, reaching out his hand to rest on Charles’s shoulder. 

“ Wait... Charles, they know what you look like. On the ship I mean. “ 

Henry looked away, fiddling with his other hand. 

“ . . . The escape pods are on the bottom floor of the airship. If we just... go like this, they’ll recognize you. “ 

Henry took his hand off their shoulder, and looked back into his room. 

“ . . . If we cover up your jacket, that could help us for a while. “

\-------

Charles hesitated for a moment, then nodded. As he was just about to exit the room, he stopped, staring straight ahead. After a few seconds lost in thought, he turned around and grabbed both of Henry's hands.  
"Come with me," he said with a determined expression, "like, leave the Toppats. I can work to clear your name and uhh...I can quit my job, and we rent an apartment together, or something like that. We could live a normal life together, if...if you wanna..."  
He trailed off, blushing. It was extremely sudden, and something in the back of his mind told him he was rushing into things, but his dumb little baby gay brain was acting out. He knew Henry was more stable around him, and he really liked this softer side. They could work out any extra quirks together.  
He absent-mindedly ran his thumb over Henry's metal arm.  
"I don't wanna just leave you... not now..."

\--------

Leave... the Toppats?

It never crossed his mind, least not on purpose. With the Toppats, he was strong, powerful even. His cybernetics, enhanced by the very woman... who.. hated Toppats. She hated them for their brutality. And...

Henry looked at his hands. The one made of the only remaining human part of him, and the cold metal that was replaced when he was thrown off the airship outside The Wall. The cold air still nipped at his skin when he looked back at it. Reginald, the one he overtook, threw him into the water below, destroying him... killing him. 

“ I don’t want to leave you too. “ 

Henry brushed some hair out of Charles’s face, looking back into his eyes. 

“ I don’t want to ever leave your side, Charles”

\-------

Charles closed his eyes as Henry swept his hair aside, then firmly locked fingers with him as he opened them back up.  
“Okay, let’s go,” he said with a determined nod.   
After all those failed escape attempts, he was finally getting out of here. He hoped he could convince the General to pardon Henry once they got back.

\-------

Henry walked a few paces out the door, but then paused, running back to the drawers the doctor opened before.  
" Oh. almost forgot.. "   
Henry pulled out a small panel, and pushed back his hair, sliding it over the opening in his neck. After a loud click went through the room, he walked back to Charles, smiling.. almost sheepishly.   
" Sorry... almost forgot I had that still open. "  
With that out of the way, Henry grabbed Charles's hand, and started leading him down the halls.

\-------

Charles allowed himself to be lead by Henry, gazing at the back of his head and smiling.   
He’d somehow fallen for Henry faster than he crashed his helicopter, and he was strangely okay with that.

\-------

Approaching the lift, Henry pressed the button to call it up to the floor. He smiled, rubbing Charles's hand slightly. Everything was going... relatively good so far. Sure he had to get his arm rewired, and cove up his panel in his neck, but he could live without them. he just wants to stay with Charles. Charles... 

A clamber of voices came from the hall behind them. Henry's head turned just as the lift's doors opened up. Pulling Charles into the lift, he clicked the button for the lower floor a few times, before giving up, rather quickly, and opting to hug Charles against him, right by the doors, staying out of view for those last few moments for the lift doors to close. 

The voices turned the corner, and a frustrated " Oh come on! " rang out as the doors closed in front of them. Henry looked down at Charles, and chuckled. 

" Well, that was fun- "

The lights went out in the lift.

\-------

Charles froze, looking at Henry with alarm.  
“Wh-whaddya mean-“  
He stopped mid-sentence as the lights went out. As his breathing accelerated, he hugged Henry tightly from worry, looking around frantically, squinting to try and see something.   
“What’s happening ?” His voice went an octave higher as he began to freak out.

\-------

Henry's eye glowed in the dark, giving the room a small beam of blue light. He rubbed Charles's back, trying to calm him down.  
" I- I don't know. Look, hey look, we're ok! See..? "  
The lights flickered back on, and Henry visibly relaxed. Good, so the airship didn't lose power. But why di the lights go out?  
The speaker in the top corner of the panel cracked to life, and Henry pulled away from it, shielding Charles from it.  
" . . . Where do you think you're going, boss? " Sven said, his disgust biting through the garbling of the speaker. Henry's face went pale, but his eye flickered to the now infamous red.   
" How the hell are you even alive? "

\-------

Charles’ mouth fell open as he heard that voice. A familiar voice. He may have only heard it once, but there was no forgetting it.  
He grabbed his left hand in his right, squeezing the area where his left pinky had once been. Both hands trembled.

\-------

" Oh, you know... bullets do great against someone following you. Thanks by the way. "  
Sven's voice was bitter, more than usual. The lift rumbled back to life, descending. A sinking feeling overcame him. He was going down, to the escape area, but that was also where they were before... where he hurt Charles. He looked down at them, watching them tremble in his arms. His arms tighten.   
" Sven.. let us go. "   
A laugh rang out. A dark one.   
" HA! And let you leave with that little pest? Why, you like him? " A few beats of silence, then a laugh. " Holy shit, so Mars was right. You like the little fucker. That's why you didn't let me play with him. Speaking of... I think we should pick up where we last left off. "

\-------

Charles’ whole body began to tremble, he stared at the ground, breathing heavily. His hands balled into fists, and he gritted his teeth.   
He gave Henry a look of both fear and reassurance. He wasn’t going down without a fight. Yes, he had Henry to protect him, but he wasn’t about to be a useless coward either.   
“You don’t scare me,” he said.

\-------

Sven just shut off the lights again, and laughed. The lift finally came to a stop, but didn't open. Henry just held Charles closer as the lift jolted. He wasn't letting go of him. No, not again. The lift rolled open, as a group of toppats awaited on the other side.

Henry's eye went red.

\-------

Charles looked up at Henry’s red-eye. It was certainly scary, but somehow less so when he knew he was on his side this time.   
Charles held out his fist, ready for a fight. His fear was obvious, but alongside it was determination.   
Okay, fine. If they wanna fight, bring it on!

\-------

The toppats looked at one another, then simply held up their guns. a few started to close in, and Henry started backing up into the corner. His eye was blinking faster now. He turned around, shielding Charles from the others. But, he suddenly seized up, electricity sparking. Someone jammed a taser into his neck panel. He still held his position, in front of Charles. But, as he was getting pulled away, he reached out, trying to grab onto anything. His arm was seizing up, fuck... fuck!

\-------

Charles suddenly noticed Henry start violently twitching, no, he was being attacked! Sparks of electricity flew in all directions, and Charles screamed, reaching out for Henry as he was being dragged away.   
“No no no no !” he yelled, pushing as hard as he could against the Toppats who swarmed in, restraining him and pulling him away from Henry. 

He coughed as a sharp jab hit his gut, causing him to double over in pain, and then again as another hit him on the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

\-------

Henry cried out as Charles was pulled away, even more so when they kicked him to the ground. He can't... no .. he won't let them. He won't let them! HE WON'T!  
" .. Shut up. "  
Sven was behind Henry. The other Toppats restraining him were struggling to keep him steady. Despite the sparks disabling his arm, he was still putting up a massive fight. But, as Sven walked over to Charles, only to pull out a knife, the same knife that he used on him, flipped out and pointed at him, Henry stilled.   
" Ah, there it is. The compliance. You may be the leader by title, but I was always the true leader... "

\-------

From down on the floor, Charles reached out a hand to grab Sven’s ankle, his other hand clutching his stomach in the place he’d been hit. He had to do something to fight back, and he didn’t know what else to do.  
Looking down, Sven smirked, wrenching his leg from Charles’ grip, and stamping his foot hard onto Charles’ fingers.  
He let out a cry of pain and tried to pull his hand away, but no matter how much he struggled Sven would not remove his foot.  
Sven grinned, and looked back at Henry.  
“So, what now ?”

\-------

Henry jerked when Sven stomped down onto Charles's hand. He looked at Sven, and if looks could kill... well, there would be no more Toppat clan. His breathing was out of rhythm, his eyes flickering between the bastard that hurt, and was currently hurting Charles, and Charles himself, down on the ground.   
" . . . You let us go. That's what's going to happen. "

\-------

Sven’s eye twitched.  
“You talk as if you still call the shots,” he spoke with a slight tone of annoyance, his smile twisting into a grimace.  
“No...I have a better idea,” he said, brandishing the knife.  
He grabbed Charles by the collar, forcing him off the ground and into a tight headlock, and he held the knife to his throat, glaring at Henry.

\-------

Henry went stock still. The Toppats holding him even got a bit of a jolt from his sudden freeze. Henry's eyes shook, his eye flickering from his red to his ow soft blue, his human one dilatating. He felt as if they were miles away, behind a pane of.. glass...  
" Don't... don't hurt him.... anymore... "  
He already took his finger... what else would he take just out of anger? ... Henry didn't want to know

\-------

Sven seemed pleased with Henry’s reaction, but he wasn’t done taunting him. He brought the blade closer to Charles’ neck, cutting into the skin. Not very deep, just enough to hurt.

Charles winced as the knife cut into him, a thin trickle of blood emanating from the wound. He wanted to cry out to Henry, to reach for him, but he couldn’t, he was frozen by panic, and the fact he would certainly die if he moved even an inch.  
He looked at Henry pleadingly, surely there was something he could do? He was powerful, wasn’t he?

\-------

Henry taunted the General with that same move. But he never cut him. He never directly harmed him. But Sven did. He was the one who stabbed him, who cut off his finger. He was making him bleed again. That blood, glowing... red... blood.  
" DON'T! Sven, just tell me, what the hell do you want from him, from me? Look, I never... I never hurt him! You did! So just tell me what the hell do you want! "  
Another jerk, trying to break free earned him another shock, the Toppat looking a bit scared. His arm was already limp, but his eye still went out in static as Henry grit his teeth. He looked back at Charles, and his eye softened.. or at least he hoped. It was probably panicked... or lost.

\-------

Charles gasped as Sven moved the knife away, pointing it at Henry with fire in his eyes.  
“You’re not fit to lead us, you never were,” he growled, “and this proves it.” He gestured at Charles, poking his face with the hand that was holding him.  
“You’ve gone soft, for a government pawn no less! I knew something was suspicious when you snapped at me for doing my job.”

He switched hands on the knife and grabbed Charles’ wrist, showing the missing finger.   
“I never finished the work, did I ?” he mused, “ah...I’ll tell you exactly what I want.”  
Clutching Charles’ wrist, he moved his arm so that it was pointing at Henry

“You. Dead.”

\-------

Oh. So that's what he wanted.   
Henry looked back at Charles, now VERY CLEARLY desperate. Glancing back at Sven he tried to smile.  
" Sven... buddy, If... If you think I'm not fit to lead you all... just... make me step down! You.. we know that we don't need to ... kill to... get the position. "  
Henry looked back at Charles, then looked back.  
" Just let me and Charles leave, and you can take my place. Just... don't hurt them. Just don't hurt him. "

\-------

Sven huffed, obviously growing impatient.   
“Not good enough Henry, you see, I don’t just want the Toppats. I want justice. Revenge, if you’d rather call it that. And leaving you and your little pet to run away unscathed simply won’t do,” he drawled, tapping his foot.  
Charles didn’t like where this was going, and he was running out of options. With a burst of recklessness, he kicked Sven in the leg as hard as he could, causing him to buckle over and yell.   
“YOU LITTLE SHIT !”   
Sven did the same thing he did back then, he grabbed Charles by the throat, squeezing his windpipe. Charles struggled and kicked as he choked, a horrible gagging sound escaping his mouth.  
Sven turned his head to look Henry in the eyes.   
“Oh right, you don’t like it when I do this, do you ?”

\-------

" STOP IT! "  
Henry finally kicked the Topphat holding him back hard enough in the shins to loosen his grip, and Henry shook them off, only after a few steps to be tackled. He reached his arm up, shaking. He.. he didn't want this. He was so close this time. He just had to reach out with his arm. He had to grab Sven. Grab him by the neck, slam him against the wall. Throw him off the ship. Let him fall. Gun him down properly. But Charles was there. He was hurting Charles. He grabbed onto his pant leg, tugging.  
" Don't... I told you... not to hurt him. T- take it... out on me. "  
He scowled at him from down on the floor.  
" If you really wish to kill me.. you need to finally grow a pair to even try "

\-----

Charles desperately scanned the room, looking for Henry through his increasingly distorted vision. He spotted his glowing blue eye, and frantically shook his head, trying to call out to him.  
“No! Don’t do it, please !” he wanted to yell, but all that came out was a series of terrified choking sounds.   
Sven blinked, then grinned maliciously, finally hearing what he wanted to hear. He threw Charles down on the ground with a loud thud, leaving the pilot to cough and gag and gasp for air, clutching his neck which now noticeably bore the marks of Sven’s fingers.   
With a deranged glint in his eye, Sven knelt down to Henry’s level, brandishing the slightly bloodied knife.   
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this,” he said, grabbing a fistful of Henry’s hair and wrenching it upwards to expose his neck. He pondered for a moment what to do with him, waving the knife around dramatically.   
“You know what, I don’t think you need that other eye,” he said, pointing the blade directly at Henry’s human eye.

\-------

Henry took a breath when Charles finally was let go, dropped to the floor carelessly. But he couldn't do much as his hair was pulled up, and the knife came very close to his eye. He... he really didn't want this. His eye, his only remaining human eye, was the one real piece of his image that reminded him that he was human, albeit a bit metallic. His eye scanned the room, glancing back towards Charles. He was still there, still alive... he wanted that. No matter... some costs.   
" Cha- "  
He didn't get to finish that sentence. Not even if he wished to.

\-------

Sven wasn’t about to let him call out to Charles, oh no. He drew back the knife and stabbed it into Henry’s eye, relishing the smell of blood flowing from the socket. He pulled out the knife and stepped back, watching with morbid enjoyment.   
“Henryyy!!” Charles yelled shrilly, his throat burning as the air forced its way past his damaged vocal cords. Tears filled his eyes as he scrambled to his knees. 

A ringing filled his ears, and the corners of his vision blurred. It was almost as if everything was vanishing around him, he was only aware of himself, Henry, and Sven.  
Hatred stronger than he had ever felt before filled his mind, as he stared up at Sven, who had his back to him.   
He hated him, and he wanted him dead. He was gonna make him regret everything.

As Sven dove the knife down into his last remaining eye, Henry screamed. Even with his rebuilt vocal cords, it was painful. His voice ripped through him, shrieking until he could almost hear glass shattering. His one arm, not held down by other Toppats, came up to it, blood dripping down past and trough his fingers. His vision was red. Red pain. The blood poured from his eye like a fountain, bathing the floor in a dark sickly red. He couldn't see... He couldn't see-   
He was blind. Blinded by them. Blood. The blood glowed, bright than before. It boiled underneath his fingers, covering them in red light. His ears were ringing from the shock. He was in the void, nothing to grab onto. Nothing to hold to hold onto.  
No one to hold onto

\-------

Charles shrieked, slamming into Sven and knocking him to the ground. Sven let out a yelp of surprise as he fell, his back slamming into the ground, and his eyes widened as Charles trembling fingers closed around his neck.   
“YOU BASTARD !! I’LL KILL YOU I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU !!” screamed Charles, squeezing tighter and tighter. Sven choked, scratching at Charles’ hands, frantically trying to pry his fingers away, and when that didn’t work, he raised up the knife, stabbing it over and over into Charles’ arm, but he would not let go.  
He stared at Charles with fear, anger, and loathing. He managed to choke out a strained “no...” and his eyes rolled back, and his limbs went slack and fell to his sides, the knife still clutched in his hand.  
Charles released his throat, ears still ringing, and breathing still ragged. It suddenly dawned on him what he’d just done, and he became acutely aware of the shocked gazed of all the Toppats in the room.   
Right now, he found he did not care.

Scrambling over to Henry in a panic, he took his hand, holding it in both of his.   
“Henry? Henry, I’m here, it’s me, Charles,” he panted, tentatively caressing his bloody cheek with his thumb, an intense worry overtaking him now, making him feel sick.   
He wrapped his arms around Henry’s torso, hugging him and cradling him in his arms.

\-------

The weight off of his back was released, and Henry was almost unaware that his body was being bulled upwards, and two arms closed around him. His shaky, bloodied hand came up, feeling his back, then his face, little smears of blood leaving the slightest mark. He reached his headphones, and paused. His arm went around Charles's neck, and he laid his head on Charles's chest... The blood was still pouring out, a little bit slower now.   
" Char...rles.... ? Is. That. You? "  
His words were fragmented, weak. His eyes showed nothing, but the buzzing in his ears was still present. His arm was weak, slipping. He tried to grab a fistful of Charles's jacket, but it went like water through his fingers. He couldn't hold on. Not for much longer.

\-------

Charles could tell Henry was weakening. He tried to control his breathing, he couldn’t lose his head at a time like this.   
“It’s me, I’m here it’s gonna be okay,” he said, tears streaming down his face.  
“Someone get the doctor !” he yelled, looking desperately around the room full of unmoving Toppats, “the rest of you clear out!”   
There was a bit of mumbling among the members, unhappy about being told what to do by their prisoner, but they eventually did leave the room, and Charles heard Artemis say :  
“We’ll go get her, c’mon,” as they left, along with Quiril and Mars.   
Charles turned his attention back to Henry, ruffling his hair and cradling him. He had to stop the bleeding somehow, he ripped off a sleeve from his shirt, tying it around Henry’s wounded eye.   
“Shh, shhh it’s okay, the doc’s on her way, we’re gonna be okay.”  
He hoped the doctor would be here soon, but for now, all he could do was wait.

\-----

A bit of pressure went onto Henry's eye, and he cursed, softly. His voice was almost failing him, losing itself in the sea of voices. Even in the silence, his own voice was drowning. He was drowning. His entire life was starting to bubble up. Small snippets of it. Some memories.. he didn't recognize. All the while, he kept trying to cling to Charles. He was here with him. He wouldn't leave him.  
" Charles... I'm... ti erd... I... I'm tired. Ar.. arnt you tired? "  
His grip was loosening by the second. His arm already fell down onto his chest, but he shakily tried to lift it back up, just to hold onto him. Hold onto the one. The one thing that made him human. Mortal.

\-------

Charles gripped Henry's hand. He was shaking. He didn't want this. He wasn't going to let him go. Warm tears dripped onto Henry's face as Charles tried to suppress his sobs.   
"Don't go... please... don't die on me..." he wept, grief starting to sweep over him.   
With nothing else he could possibly do, he bent down and planted a kiss on Henry's forehead.   
"Don't die... don't leave me alone, we were supposed to...we were gonna spend our lives together, we could be happy-

"You don't have to worry about that."

A sharp, burning pain entered Charles' lower back, and he heard the remnants of Sven's voice from behind him. He had the knife out, and was driving it deeper, and deeper into Charles's flesh. Blood spread out from the wound, soaking into his shirt. 

"You're going to die with him."

The knife twisted, sending ripples of white-hot pain through Charles' body. It burned. It burned. He didn't even scream, for he was in too much shock. It burns. Why does it hurt so much?

Henry.

Help.

Someone.

He tasted blood. His blood. He gripped Henry tighter, terrified of letting go. Even as he tried to hold on, he felt him slipping away, his own body growing weak.  
I'm sorry Henry...

A gunshot rang through the empty room, and Sven fell to the ground, dead.

Dr. V stood in the doorway, eyes wide and holding a gun, the barrel still smoking. Artemis, Quiril, and Mars appeared behind her, with expressions of pure shock.

Charles turned his head, staring at the four of them.

"Help," he pleaded, weakly. His vision went dark, and he hit the ground.

\-------

Henry fell with Charles, thudding onto the ground. He heard someone speak, and a loud bang... but he could barely hear Charles breading now, He didn't hear him crying. He, only herd himself.   
" . . . You... didn't leave me.. in the... e . ...n .....d "  
Henry's grip loosened, as he laid down, next to Charles, tangled in his arms.

\-------

“We don’t have much time!”

“I vill do vhat I can.”

Everything was dark. He could hear fragments of conversations, sounding very frantic. They seemed so distant.

“They cannot stay here.”

“We’ll take the escape pod.”

“Are they gonna be okay ?”

Charles tried moving his arms. It was strange, everything was all floaty, like he was in space or underwater. He touched his ears, finding his headphones to be missing. He didn’t mind. Not like he could feel anything.

“Will he make it ?”

“He is stable.”

Henry... that’s right. Henry was in trouble. Charles opened his eyes, but he could see nothing but his own body. It looked distorted, like he was looking at it through a veil of water. Was he even real?


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahaha General Dadforce

Charles’ eyes fluttered open, revealing an unfamiliar ceiling. He blinked, unsure of what was going on. As he tried to move, he heard the rustling of sheets, he was lying in bed. He tried to sit up, getting light-headed, and he realized why he was in bed. There was an IV drip in his arm, and upon looking under the sheets, he saw a large dark red stain on his abdomen covered by bandages.

“...what the hell...” he muttered, going to tap his headphones, but finding that they were gone.  
He cast around, panicking a little, but found they were just lying on his bedside, so he slipped them on and immediately felt calmer.

The last thing he remembered was getting stabbed in the back and falling unconscious. So it seemed like he’d survived.  
He hoped Henry was alive too. Wait, Henry!

He tried to sit up again, looking around frantically for Henry, maybe in another bed. He found him lying in the bed next to his, facing away from him so that his spine was on full display.  
It seemed like he was still unconscious.

\-------

Floating. He was floating. 

Henry stared off into the black void, once again, his parts gone. He was looking over himself. The scars from every time he failed, his hands, still as rough and calloused as ever. 

The void suddenly gave way to his feet, and Henry stumbled as he found his center of gravity. Looking at his own feet, he saw the mechanical parts slowly creeping up his body, like thorny vines. 

A bit of color. The void never held color before. 

Henry approached, but froze. 

It was a hospital bed... with him laying in it. 

His eye was still turned off, but the other one had a small, simple bandage over it. His arm had an IV drip in his still good arm. His back was turned to the side, his weight shifting. 

The figure in the bed slowly sat upright. The eye never turned on, but the imposter turned to look at him regardless. 

The ringing started as Henry tried to step back, but all it seemed to do was push the bed forward. 

The ringing only escalated in pitch as the Henry in the bed reached up to push away the bandages... 

Color. 

Henry’s bionic eye flickered to life. He was... in a ... hospital bed?

\-------

Charles' heart leapt as he noticed movement. He shifted in his bed, attempting to move toward Henry, which sent a sharp pain through his side. He pressed a hand to the bandaged wound, wincing, then turning his attention back to Henry.

"Henry...are, uh...are you awake ?"

\-------

Henry herds his voice loud and clear. Maybe a bit too loud. Struggling, he started to push himself up with his still good arm. 

It took a while, but as he finally laid his back against the pillows and look over at Charles. . .

His face broke into a state of pure relief. 

“ Charles! “ 

Moving to push himself off the bed, he sucked in a breath. 

. . . Geez this was painful. He looked up to Charles. His bionic eye now brightening up. His other one, was still covered in the bandages, but that didn’t stop him from continuing to push himself off the bed, his hand against the wall. 

He finally lumbered over to Charles’s bedside, and he smiled as he took his hand in his. 

“ Hey there. “

\-------

Charles sighed in relief, smiling.  
He shifted so as to be facing Henry, and tried to do it in the least painful way possible.  
“Aw man... what a day, huh ?” he said, relaxing his shoulders.  
“For a second there I...uh...I thought we weren’t gonna make it.”  
He shuddered slightly at the memory.  
Not only had the previous day been tumultuous as hell, but he’d also had his entire perspective on Henry flipped, and had somehow fallen in love with a man he’d considered an enemy not even two days ago. Probably worth it, right?

\-------

Henry nodded. It was terrifying how close to death they came to. He was already pissed when he first saw Charles hurt, and almost every time after that it was just salt in the wounds. 

This altercation was like being dumped in acid. 

Seeing Charles bedridden like this, was terrible. And it was all to blame on one person. 

Himself. 

Henry softly squeezed Charles’s hand, him sniffing a bit. 

“ . . . this is all my fault... if... if we never brought you in... “ 

Henry bowed his head, now definitely on the verge of crying. 

“You wouldn’t be here... stuck in a bed, bandages... covering you... “

\-------

Charles’ smile dropped, and his heart filled with emotion. He didn’t want Henry blaming himself for this, he needed to comfort him.  
He tilted Henry’s chin up with his hand and gazed at him softly.

“C’mon man, don’t go blaming yourself... you weren’t, like, in your right mind when we met,” he said, no idea where he was going, “and sure you might have, uhh, done a little damage, but I forgive ya for that.  
After all, I am in the military, so this ain’t, um, anything unexpected.”  
He let out a small chuckle.  
“I’ve had worse out there, and, uhh...I mean that Sven guy was the one who actually, like, did any real damage”  
He looked at his missing finger, wiggling the other ones. 

“And you know what, I’m kinda glad this happened, in- in a way, y’know? I’d never have seen the best sides of you.”

He smiled, closing his eyes.  
“So don’t beat yourself up, okay ?”

\-------

Henry really was crying now. His grip on Charles squeezed a bit, then came up to his cheek. His bandage over his eye was watering, either from the blood or tears. Probably both. 

“ I... I don’t deserve you, Charles. Not in a million years. “ 

Leaning forward, he did the first thing he wanted to do before he passed out. Kissing Charles lovingly, he brought up his other hand up to the other side of his face. His other eye dimmed to a comfortable void. But Henry didn’t mind the darkness this time. 

He wasn’t alone anymore.

\-------

Charles’ eyes opened in mild surprise, but he accepted the kiss.  
He saw the light Henry’s eye dim, which scared him, he thought for a moment he was losing him again.  
He hugged Henry’s unconscious form, sighing in relief when he heard his steady breathing.  
They sat there, not moving for a few minutes as Charles petted Henry’s hair. 

The door burst open suddenly, and Mars came flying into the room, tripping on the carpet and falling on their face.  
“OH MY GOD YOU FUCKING DID IT !” they screamed, picking themselves up off the ground, “YEEEEEASSSS!!”  
Charles stared at them in utter confusion.

\-------

Henry’s eye light up, and he swung himself upwards, stopping to hold his head. Yeah no, he shouldn’t do that. Staring over at the... lost, loud child now in the room with them, he looked over at Charles, processing what the hell just happened. 

. . . Oh. 

Mars saw them kiss. 

Henry went red as a tomato. Hiding his face back into Charles’s chest, he groaned. He... well, he was found out by the one person who kept joking about it.

\-------

“H-huh ?!”  
Charles looked down at Henry, then at Mars. Glancing between them, his face grew warm, and turned red as well. He sat on his bed, blushing like mad, while Mars continued to rave.  
“This is so good! Quiril! Grab the booze, we hafta celebrate !!” they called out the door.  
“Get it yourself you dumb shit !” Quiril yelled back, entering the room as well, and spotting Henry and Charles, both redder than Charles’ headphones.  
“I sure hope I didn’t walk in on something here...” he said, turning pink.  
Charles was about to say something when Artemis appeared in the doorway behind Quiril.  
“Mon dieu I’m so glad you’re both alright!” they said, with an expression of relief.  
“Artemis was worried sick, I jus’ wanted to see some PDA really,” grinned Mars.  
All three of them were currently hatless, something Charles only just noticed. 

“Jeez, would it kill you to knock ?” he muttered loudly, puffing up his cheeks in embarrassment.

\-------

Henry didn't even see who came in, but he had a pretty good idea on who they were as they all took their rounds to pitch in their thoughts and concerns. Well, except for Mars, who was still chanting about booze or something. He didn't know if he was completely there. And alcohol would most likely make it worse. Definitely. His head was still pounding from the sudden outburst. He just continued to burry himself into Charles, hiding his red face. Which by now was probably starting to overheat his system.

He spared a peek over at Charles, watching him puff up, almost like a bird. That forced a giggle out of him. At least he was here, with Charles, during all of this. A truly calm moment, spared from the first kiss in the bathroom. That already felt like it happened ages ago...

\-------

“Honestly if Boss- I mean- Henry hadn’t already claimed ‘im, I’d have totally had a go, he’s got a nice a-“ declared Mars unnecessarily loudly, before Artemis covered their mouth awkwardly, giving Charles an apologetic wave.  
“Ew, Mars, don’t be fuckin gross in a hospital,” groaned Quiril, rubbing their temple.  
“I’m jus’ saying,” shrugged Mars, their voice extremely muffled.

Charles tried to ignore the disaster trio, although they did get a laugh out of him, even Mars’ comments.  
“Oh man, this is... this is a whole mess huh ?” he sighed. His chest felt extremely warm, probably from Henry overheating, it felt kinda nice, to be honest.  
“Ow,” he breathed, as he went to shift his position and felt another jab of pain in his lower back. He poked Henry, prompting him to maybe move a bit.  
“Hey, can you uh...” he mumbled, patting the spot on the bed next to him.

\-------

Henry quickly moved, nodding. He looked at Charles with concern. He knew that Charles was hurt during the scuffle, but he didn't know how much it went past, after his own eye was sliced in two. He held Charles again once he fixed his position, one hand on either side of his midsection. He looked down at the bandages. 

" What... happened to you? "

" He got stabbed, that's vhat "

Dr. Vinschpinsilstien entered the room, holding a few fresh rolls of bandages in her arms. Looking over at the trio of ... chaos that was still in the room, she frowned.

" All of you know that you shouldn't be here. " She held up a hand as they tried to speak. " Visiting hours were over a vhile ago. I don't care vat you tell me. Also, Mars, no booze. You already act drunk when you're sober. Now out. "

After a few moments, she shook her head and walked over to the pair, still on the bed. Looking over at Charles, she smiled. 

" I must admit, you two seem almost perfect for each other. Save for a few mistakes, but that's not why I'm here. Charles, I need to change your bandages. Your arm is already bleeding again. "

Henry looked down, and saw the pink color slowly appearing through the bandages. He felt bad for not noticing it sooner.

\-----

Charles let out a small chuckle and blushed at her comment.  
“You think so...?” he mumbled shyly.  
He held out his bandaged arm, and noticed it was indeed bleeding, there were a few patches of red soaking through.  
As he looked at it, he remembered vaguely what he’d done. It all was very nebulous to him now, almost as if he’d been observing the scene from afar. He recalled Sven’s eyes, the look of panic on his face.

He was horrified that he had even been capable of such a thing. He was used to fighting, but he’d never tried to take someone’s life in such a personal way.  
His fingers trembled a little as he was spacing out.  


\-----

The doctor started unwrapping Charles's arm, and Henry winced at all the different stab wounds covering his entire arm. He held his other arm, interlocking their fingers. He held it, resting his head on Charles's shoulder, looking down at his own hand. Closing it, then releasing it again.

The doctor pulled away the last of the bandages, and started to place new gauze around his arm. Sparing a look at Henry, she looked back at Charles, quickly finishing up his arm. 

" You need to turn around, I can't reach your back... Henry, you need to move as well. " She shooed him away, hands fluttering him off the bed. Turning to Charles, she walked over to his back, and sighed. 

" I don't see any leaking out. I'll change them anyways, the gauze is pretty thick. "

\------

Charles ran his fingers over his new bandages, they were soft and it felt nice on his skin.  
He did as he was told, standing up with some difficulty, wincing as his movement caused a shockwave of pain to ripple up his back, and the color to drain from his face.  
“So uh, what actually, um, happened back...back there? Last thing, last thing I remember is getting...um... stabbed...” he asked after steadying himself and raising his arms so that Dr. V could access his back.

\------

The doctor paused for a second already taking off the gauze, which was already red underneath the first few layers. She frowned. 

“ I was told by... those loud idiots, that Sven fucked up again. I didn’t understand what they actually did until I saw you holding Henry. “ 

She took a moment to point at him. 

“ You’re lucky you had something on your eye before I came. “ 

She was about to turn back to Charles when Henry’s voice came out. Wavering. Worried.

“ Where... Where is Sven now? “

Doctor V shook her head. 

“ Shot in the head. Did it myself. “ 

Finally getting all the bandages undone, she peeled away the old bandage, tossing it into the trash nearby. Pressing a new bandage against the area, she wrapped it up a few times before finally turning to Henry.

“ I need to check in on your eye.” 

Henry froze. He... he was so caught up in the moment that he forgot that he was injured as well.

\-----

Charles was a little tense when she changed his bandages, the fabric around his wound being moved caused a bit of pain, but once it was done, he sat back down on the bed with a sigh.

So Sven was dead then. Served the bastard right for taking Henry’s eye.

Speaking of which, when the doctor went to check the eye, Charles looked at Henry with concern.

“Yeah, I...uh, I hope you don’t, like, lose it permanently or anything...it, uh... y- it’s so pretty...” he said, smiling bashfully, playing absent-mindedly with his hands and looking down.

\------

Henry spared one more look at Charles, before allowing Doctor V to walk over to his side of the bed and start unwrapping his head. 

The bandages fell into a spiraling heap on the floor. Even Doctor V winced a bit. 

The eye was sliced, a long line running up and down the actual eye itself. His blue eye was still visible underneath the scar, but only a fraction. 

Rummaging through her jacket, she gave out a frustrated sigh. 

“ Dammit, ze bandage fell out. “ 

Walking out of the room, she turned, pointing at the both of them. 

“ Don’t touch the eye, ya? “

\------

Charles immediately regretted what he said. He fucking jinxed it didn’t he?  
He covered his mouth, recoiling in horror and making a small noise.  
“...I'm sorry...” he mumbled through his hands, a sickening feeling in his stomach.  
Dammit, he had to fucking say something, didn’t he? And- yep, here come the tears.

He reached out with one hand, brushing aside some of Henry’s hair. The more he looked at the mutilated eye, the more he hated Sven, even though he was now dead. He was angry at him, angry at himself for failing to act sooner. 

Breathe, Charles, breathe.

\------

The rapidly increasing breaths from Charles made Henry start panicking himself. His arms seemed to not know where to go. His shoulders, waist... he didn't know where. . .

Sound. Was it too loud? What did they do...?

Henry cupped his hands over Charles's ears, trying to block out the sounds. He understood the loud alarm made him uncomfortable, but the room was relatively quiet. Glancing at the nearby table, he quickly grabbed the headset. Holding it, he carefully held it out for Charles to take. 

" . . . Don't be. I'm just happy this.. happened to me. Not to you. "

Doctor V finally walked back down the hall, now with a new bandage. About to enter the room, she paused, and peeked in. She wasn't like the others, bursting in without warning. Also... she already made a new bet with Mars.

\------

Charles took the headphones and put them on, taking a deep breath.  
"... sorry, I, uh, I just freaked out a little... seeing your eye...um..." he said, trying to wipe away some of the tears.  
In the midst of this, something else suddenly occurred to him.  
"You remembered..." he whispered, holding his headphones over his ears, "you remembered my...the- the sound, thingy."  
Charles smiled, starting to feel very emotional. Henry truly cared, even about the smaller things that wouldn't be a big deal to most people.  
"...thanks..." was all he could manage right now.

\------

Henry didn't need to say anything. No need for one-liners or charms. He just leaned in, wrapping his arms around him again, hiding his eye from view. It hurt to move it, but he closed it, a comforting view from his one remaining eye.

. . . There was a lot of hugging today, huh?

The doctor walked in, knocking on the doorway. Henry turned, his blind eye starkly contrasting with his bright blue one. She smiled. Walking over to the bedside, she waited for one of them to pull away. She didn't want to interrupt. Also, she was so far winning the bet.

\------

Charles gladly accepted the hug. He felt like he deserved it for all the shit he’d put up with.  
He couldn’t move much because of his injuries, and he was starting to get light-headed.  
“Oof, I’m...I’m getting kinda, uh, sleepy right now... I’m just gonna...”  
He gently broke away from the hug, carefully lying back down on his bed. He looked up at Henry, smiling softly.

\------

Henry reached up to run his fingers through his hair, smiling back at him.  
" You can rest now... we're safe. "  
" Ahem "  
The soft tut made Henry turn. The doctor finally arrived back from her trip, a few new bandages in her arms. She smiled back, setting them on the bed, and walking around, pulling out a small penlight.  
" I'm happy you two are feeling better. I never worked with someone with a sliced eye. Shame I can't build you a new one, ya? Hm, maybe I can.. No matter "  
Reaching over for the new bandage, she peeled off the cover of the cover, and brushed away Henry's hair as she stuck it on. Then, she flicked him on the forehead.  
" You're an idiot, Henry. Vat were you thinking?! "  
Henry just held his head, and shrugged.

\------

Charles’ head flopped onto his pillow, which was a tad uncomfortable because of his headphones, but he didn’t want to take them off.  
Normally he had a pair of earmuffs to use at night so that he could actually be comfy, but they were all the way back at base.  
He shifted in bed, gazing up at Henry and Dr. V. While he may have just been stabbed, he felt pretty happy right now, not counting his worry over Henry’s eye of course.  
He hoped something could be done about it.  
“Whaddya mean ‘idiot’ ?” asked Charles, confused, “if, um, if anyone’s an idiot here, it’s-it’s...it’s me.”  
He was only half-joking.

\------

Doctor V turned to point at Charles.  
“ You vere an idiot too. Always running off like that. Not to mention the helicopter. Who just decides to crash into someone just like that?! “ 

Henry shook his head, smiling a little. He fiddled with the patch, wrapping a bandage around it. 

“ didn’t expect it “

\------

Charles let out a chuckle. Ah yes, crashing the helicopter. His greatest plan that totally didn’t backfire.  
“Haha, yeah, I’d always wanted to do that,” he said, still somewhat proud of his little stunt. It was what started this whole mess, and what led him here, so overall not a bad plan.  
“Probably my greatest plan if I do say so myself.”


	9. 9

Henry smiled, until he hit that last phrase. That made him freeze up. Why was it always that one line coming up? He... he was safe. Hurt, but safe right next to him.   
Luckily, he was still facing Doctor V, who saw the change. She spared a quick glance between the two, then switched interests to the headphones currently on Charles’s head. 

“ . . . Do they work? The headphones. “ 

Looking back at Henry, she looked apprehensive. She knew the government were looking for their pilot, that much was common sense. But with Henry here...

\-----

Charles blinked, tapping his headphones pensively.  
“I...dunno actually... I haven’t really tried using them...” he said, frowning.   
He noticed Henry seemed despondent, and it took him a moment to figure out why.   
What if he tried to call the General, just to let him know he was okay? Would...would Henry be safe? He had talked about getting him a pardon so they could live together, before Sven had shown up.  
“I s’pose I should call the General, so he knows I’m okay... I’m sure I can convince him to let Henry off the hook...” he said, attempting to hide his uncertainty.

\------

Henry paused, looking over at Charles. He knew that the video spooked him, heavily. He’d probably wish to throw Henry into a cell to rot. No one else to blame, since the only other bastard in the video was already dead.

The headphones buzzed as the call went out. Ringing for a few spare seconds when the call was picked up. 

“ . . . Charles? Charles is that you? Are you okay? “

\------

Charles was happy to hear the General’s voice again.   
“Yea...yea it’s me, hi General,” he said into his microphone, “I’m a little beat up but I’ll be fine.”  
He paused for a moment, trying to decide whether to mention Henry straight away or not. He looked at Henry and Dr. V, giving them a questioning look, waiting for their approval.

\------

Henry didn’t even know what to tell the General. Him, a former Toppat, former leader of the Toppat clan, with the kidnapped pilot. Turning to the Doctor, he gave a questioning look. 

She sighed, looking at Charles, shaking her head. There was a time and place for everything. This was not the time. 

“ Do you know your current location? We can get a chopper out to you, before anything else happens to you. I don’t want... a repeat of last time you called us. “

\------

Charles did not know where they were at all. They might still be on the airship for all he knew. Covering the mic, he leaned over to Dr. V.  
“Do...do you, um, know where we are...?” he whispered.  
He then hurriedly addressed Galeforce again.   
“I’m fine General, I’m safe where I am. I dunno where yet... but I promise nothing bad’s gonna happen while I’m here,” he said confidently.

\------

“ Who are you speaking to? “ The General sounded concerned. And for good reason. Last time someone else was on the microphone, things didn’t go so well.   
“ Can they be.... trusted? They haven’t hurt you have they? “ 

Meanwhile, Doctor V was helping Henry get up. When Henry tried to object, she put a finger up to her lips. 

“ If the General sees you here, he will murder you. You already made a mess the first time you came in, and I don’t want to be cleaning again for a few hours. “ 

Henry bleakly nodded. Duly noted.

\-----

Charles hadn’t realized he could hear him when he whispered to Dr. V, although he supposed he should have known.   
“Oh...right, uh...you heard that... don’t worry General, she’s my friend, she’s, um...a doctor and she got me patched up. She’s trustworthy,” he said, a little awkwardly as he had been taken aback by his question.   
He still didn’t dare mention Henry, for fear of the General’s reaction, but maybe he could try and ease into the subject.  
“There’s also another guy...who helped me out, like, a whole bunch. I trust him as well, so do worry, I’m in good hands,” he said, clutching the blankets in one of his hands.

\------

The General let out a sigh. Out of relief or frustration, that was unknown. He really didn’t want to fill out any more paperwork. There was already a pile of them next to the com station. There was another thing... but he would get to it when the time comes. 

“ ... Who is this other guy you mentioned? Is he one of the doctors there? “

“ Heh, Doctor love that’s what “ Doctor V whispered to Henry, lightly punching his side. 

Henry went pink.

\------

Charles froze. He felt like he was between a rock and a hard place right now. If he told the General that Henry was a doctor, that would be quickly proven to be a lie when he showed up, but he really didn’t have a credible excuse besides that.   
He didn’t hear what Dr. V said, but Henry was now blushing, so it probably was some snide comment about their relationship. He glared at her briefly, then turned his attention back to his conversation.  
“Not...exactly...” he said, trying to think of something else to say that wouldn’t be suspicious, “he’s... uh, he was on the airship as well... and he helped bust me out, so, um, yea I owe him one.”  
Hopefully, that was credible, Charles wasn’t the best at improvising excuses.

\------

“ . . . A toppat. . . allied with you . . . “

The General huffed. Charles.... was too innocent. He may have been on an airship where he was tortured, and he still got out with one of the members. There was a chance he was another government recruit, or some innocent captured by them, but that was too far fetched. 

“... I swear if it’s someone that I saw on that video I will take care of them. 

Henry was still pink as Doctor V went to the side of the bed, but stopped as she listened to Charles try to cover up for Henry. She facepalmed. 

“ Dammit Charles... “ 

Henry facepalmed as well

\------

Shit, this isn’t good...

“I-I-I never said...um...I never said he was-“ he stuttered, starting to panic. Everyone facepalming told him he’d obviously done something wrong. 

“D-Dad-shoot...I-I mean-General! I- look I can explain,” he stammered, his face going red with embarrassment and his throat starting to lock up.  
Dammit Charles, this was not the time to panic and start crying again!  
“...he really isn’t a bad guy- he...he helped me escape, he- he almost died for me General!”

Henry, seeing that Charles was starting to lock down, quickly pushed himself towards him, ignoring the bits of soreness in his body. Wrapping his arms around Charles, he held him, his human hand in his hair, his mechanical one around his waist. 

" . . . breath " 

His voice was low, trying not to be picked up by the mic. He was hugging him though... it would be picked up. He didn't care. Charles was crying, he was crying, he had to calm him down. He hated seeing him cry.  
Doctor V... well, she exited the room, her heels clicking down the hall. Turning into one of the rooms, she saw the trio of... toppats. She didn't know if the General knew about them, and she didn't wish to find out. She really didn't want to clean up the blood in one of the other rooms. Blood was terribly hard to get out of the carpet...  
" ... Hide. The general is coming for the pilot. "

The General paused, hearing the other voice. He didn't recognize it, though it was faintly familiar. Looks like he was the one Charles was talking about. And he was comforting him. 

He smiled. Maybe the person that saved his boy wasn't that bad. He did want him to go on missions in pairs from now on...

\-----

The trio looked at the doctor, then at each other.  
“We probably should, we might not have our hats but they surely have files on us,” said Artemis, crossing their arms.  
“But, we’re not Toppats anymore, right ?” asked Mars, “I don’t fancy going back really, I might’ve spent my whole life there, but I’ve ‘ad enough really.”  
“We can strike out on our own,” grinned Quiril, their top lip curling into a snarl as it always did, “we don’t hafta take orders from no one, we can kick ass just the three of us.”  
Artemis and Mars looked at each other, and grinned as well.   
“Sounds like a plan,” said Artemis, standing up.  
“Bloody brilliant,” said Mars, “now let’s hide and jump ship when it’s over.”

__

Charles did as Henry suggested, taking a few deep breaths and allowing himself to calm down. He nuzzled into Henry’s shoulder, just for a moment, then blinked some tears out of his eyes.  
“Sorry about that General...I...I was having a moment...been a crazy few days for me.”

\-----

" Same here son, now... that doctor you talked about. Do they have their current location? "   
Galeforce smiled at the little comment. He didn't mind the little slip-up of Charles calling him 'Dad'. He liked it. Charles was already like a son to him. He was the one who got him into the force, helped him get past the training exercises. He was even the one who first gifted him the headset he now wears nearly constantly. Others joked that he actually glued them on. He did once, and he hated to admit it, he laughed a bit. 

Doctor V came in from the halls again, looking a bit flustered. Her hair was now down from her usual ponytail, frazzled hair now down to past her shoulders. She looked over at Henry, smiling. 

Those two were honestly the sweetest things here. Henry was still holding Charles as he spoke into the mic, both smiling.

\-----

Charles looked at Dr. V again.   
“Gimme a sec, I’ll ask the doc,” he told the general.  
“So uh, where are we exactly?”   
He was still somewhat worried about the General’s reaction to seeing Henry. But he figured he could talk his way out, they were close after all. And maybe he wouldn’t recognize Henry, with his missing eye and stuff, although maybe that was too much to ask for.

\-----

" About fifteen miles off the coast of the Dogobogo Jungle. North of the exit of Lake Britana " Doctor V rattled off. " If they look for a boat with a large metal bolder on the back, that's us. "

Oh, Henry thought. They were on the boat. The same boat he woke up on. No wonder it looked familiar. 

" We got your location. Hold tight, we're on our way. " The call shut off, as Galeforce sat up from the chair, and made his way over to the chopper. Ironic, he thought. Saving Charles in one of the new helicopters. He's been meaning to show him it for a while... before everything. His grip tightened around his waist, his pistol heavy in his holster. 

" ... please don't disappear on us again, Charlie... "

\------  
Charles heard the beep that indicated the connection shut off, and he sighed loudly.  
"Aw man, thanks for getting me through that one Henry," he said, laying his chin on his shoulder.   
He was so relieved that this ordeal was finally over soon. Of course, there were still a few potential hiccups to work out, like convincing Galeforce to pardon Henry or at least let him live. And breaking the news that he wanted to quit the army, he couldn't imagine him reacting that well.   
"Alright, we should probably, like, get ready, or something. Henry is...is your eye gonna be ok ?"

\-------

Henry nodded. Standing up, still holding his hand, he looked over to the doctor.  
" Where- "  
" Bedside drawer. I'll leave you two alone. "  
She pointed to the bedside table. Turning her head, she pulled out a small phone. Walking out, she browsed through her notes. Tucking it back into her pocket, she sighed. Those two would be the death of her.

Henry went over to his original bed and tugged on the handle. Just as implied, a few folded pieces of clothing were placed inside. A note on top in scratchy handwriting simply said " Don't rip these, dumbass "

\-----

Charles also found a change of clothing, which he put on with a bit of help (his stab wound still hurt when he moved, surprise surprise). They waited for a few hours, during which time Charles accidentally fell asleep, got woken up, he and Henry cuddled a bit more when they thought no one was looking, had Mars show up whispering 'kiss kiss kiss' repeatedly, much to their annoyance and embarrassment.  
Once they'd shooed them out, Charles heard a beep in his headphones, informing him that a chopper had arrived to pick them up.  
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.  
"Okay... let's do this..." he said, his heart pumping very fast suddenly.

\------

Galeforce stepped off the chopper, holding his hat down as the chopper rose back up again. His earpiece buzzed, and he picked up the call.

" Sorry chief, chopper's runnin low. Heading back to land to refuel. Will be back in twenty. "

" Copy that, go with haste. "  
The chopper went on to rise further up and onwards to the coast, as Dr. Vinschpinsilstien came through the doors. Looking up at the General, she gave a smile.  
" Ah, so you were the one that Charles was talking to, ya? " She took off her glasses, cleaning them on her jacket. " I'm surprised you arrived this early. Eh, on par with the government I suppose. . . "

" That would be correct. I would assume you are the doctor who worked on his injuries? "   
She nodded, motioning him to follow her inside. He took a breath. "... how bad was it? " 

" Twelve stab wounds in his right arm, one large in his back, abdominal area. Missing pinky on his left hand, and general scuffs and bruises. " She pushed her now clean glasses back up against her eyes. " His... friend was a bit worse. Sliced open right eye, now blind, a few electrical burn areas, and the usual bruises. I've worked on him before, his major injuries due to some mission he was on made me rebuild parts of him. "

He winced. A cut open eye was terrible. He wouldn't even do it to the worst of people...

They turned the corner, and to the closed door on the right. 

" There. That's where their rooms are. "

" Thank you... Miss? "

" Doctor Vinschpinsilstien. And it's no bother. "

Finally walking through the doors, he froze...

Henry did as well, as he was fixing up Charles's shirt, the button coming undone. Turning towards the door, he knew. Oh, he knew what was to come.


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its the final countdown *kazoo*

The sound of the doors opening caught Charles' attention. Turning his head, he saw General Galeforce standing there with a shocked expression. He stepped back from Henry, standing awkwardly about a foot away from him.

"H-hey General," he smiled nervously, "uh, what's up?"

Lame filler dialogue sure, but he was honestly kinda afraid of how the General would react. This was, in his eyes, a dangerous criminal he was interacting with.

"I, um, I probably should have mentioned...yeah," he said awkwardly tapping his headphones, "but, like, just gimme a sec, I can- I can explain, I promise-"  


\------

The live video he watched those few days ago was terrible enough. The one recruit he saw, almost like a son, being tortured by one of the worst criminals in the clan.

And he was in that very room with Charles. Standing next to him. 

The pistol left his holster as he clicked off the safety, and pointed it directly at Henry's head before the general even realized he did. Snarling, his eyes focused on him.

" YOU! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! "

Henry's hands went up in surrender. Oh shit, this won't be good.

\------

Charles instinctively jumped in front of Henry as his heart jolted violently, waving his arms in a frantic motion.

"Nonononono don't shoot! Hear me out please !" he yelled, panicking. He was afraid this would happen.  
Holding his arms out in front of him, he tried to calm his breathing, but he was still shaking and sweating. At least he knew the General wouldn't dare shoot him, someone he considered a son.

"Listen... it-it's not...it's not like it seems. Henry- Henry's not a bad guy, he- his cybernetics, they were messing with his...his brain," he said staring wide-eyed at the General.

\------

"I - wuh- Charles get out of the way! "  
The general did not lower his gun, but he did aim it away from Charles. He was already hurt, and he didn't want to expand upon those injuries. But seeing Charles shaking like that, sweating, he slowly lowered it, leaving the safety off.  
" His... cybernetics? ... wait- "  
"I'm surprised it took this long for his mental state to stabilize."  
A click from a gun came from behind the general, and he turned around, pistol raised, seeing the doctor back in the doorway, her own gun raised.  
" Rebuilding brains has always been a pain for me. He's still lucky to even be standing here. "

Henry was already panicking when Charles jumped in front of him, but now, the doctor holding a gun at the general... that was a shock. Already stepping around Charles to shield him, he grabbed his hand. He got this far this time, he can't lose this. He can't. He didn't want to go back.

Go... back?

\------

Charles stared at the doctor, flabbergasted at her pulling a gun on the General. He was also a little taken aback at Henry shielding him. He clutched Henry's hand, peeking out.  
"...Doc what- what's going on? Why- the General's not gonna hurt me you guys," he said, a little confused.

\------

" Having to rebuild the brain of the one who took down the toppat clan, I had some leverage to work with. You see... I've worked with them before. With Reginald's Right Hand Man. "  
Her eyes lingered over to Henry, still in front of Charles.  
" A leader has to be strict, harsh. No mercy. So, I put that into the chip I installed. The same one accessible through your neck. "  
The metal seemed to burn Henry. This woman, that he trusted, that saved him... changed who he was. But.. who was he, before all of this?  
" Reading your brainwaves were quite interesting. How come you never told me that you had those memories sooner? "  
" . . . what memories? "  
She gave out a harsh laugh.  
" You idiot, the separate timelines! You never told me you were capable of that! " She looked away for a few moments, pondering. " Well, I guess my reprogramming made you suppress them. "

The General was still standing there, a bit shocked. " . . . timelines. . . "

\------

Charles was speechless. A chip? Timelines? Was that what Henry was talking about before, when he said that he knew him before? And that dream...

"YOU did- huh ???" he yelled, his shock making him unable to think straight. If Dr. V was the reason Henry acted so scary when they met a few days ago, and his change of heart was the real him... but that also meant...  
"So...you're the reason...you, i-indirectly I guess...you're the reason I got..." he said desperately, looking at his trembling hands, his missing finger. 

"I-I trusted you, you saved my life... why... I don't understand !" he cried, holding his head in his hands. What was even going on anymore ?!

\------

Henry wanted to hug Charles, he really did. But he was still in the room with the General, and Doctor V. If he turned, she could have a clean shot. And he was not moving anywhere else than in front of Charles. 

His hands still shook like leaves in a storm. He... this was all... really him? Not the cruel Toppat that he was forced into for what felt like a lifetime. This was... Henry? 

His head hurt. It was like someone was ripping into him, smashing his head with a hammer to a mess of metal and blood. 

Galeforce’s stance stiffened. This criminal was being controlled? By just a simple chip?  
“ You don’t mind removing it, don’t you? “ 

“ Ahahah, no. He may still be a Henry, but he is the one I created. “ 

Her hand went for her pocket, and a trigger was pulled, resounding through the room with a loud BANG

\------

Charles was still trying to comprehend just what the hell was going on, frantically tapping his headphones. The gunshot went off and he jumped, closing his eyes and clamping his hands over his headphones. Even though his ears were at least a little guarded, it still was loud enough to make his ears ring.

He was afraid to open his eyes, he didn't know who had shot whom, he sincerely hoped it wasn't Henry or the General, he couldn't bear the thought of losing either of them.

After a tense few seconds, he chanced a look. Henry looked fine, albeit shocked, so he moved his gaze over to where the doctor was standing.  
One of her hands was bloodied, and had what was obviously a bullet hole in it. The General was pointing the gun at her, the barrel still smoking. 

Charles felt a little relieved honestly.

\---------- 

" черт возьми! "  
The doctor cried out, quickly wrapping her hand with the end of her doctor's coat. The red stain kept growing, as she looked back with hatred towards everyone, stepping to the side.  
" You... you actually shot me?! "

The General, kept his gun pointed at her, eyes trained on hers. He knew many tricks others would try to pull for the upper hand, and he wasn't going to take any chances. Not again. His hand went up to his earpiece.  
" Be advised, we have one criminal onboard, be read to detain suspect on landing. " His eyes flickered back to her wound, then huffed. " I will follow you to wherever you need to go to patch yourself up. I won't allow you to stay here and continue your malpractices. "

As they both exited the room, Henry finally turned to Charles, holding his hands up to his cheeks, wet with tears.  
" . . . Are you okay? "

\--------

Charles could barely hear Henry's voice on account of the ringing in his ears. He sighed, dropping his hands from his ears.  
"...yeah, mostly," he shrugged, "I'm just...I'm glad he didn't shoot you..."  
He looked at the doors where the other two had exited. He was still in awe of the fact that the person who'd patched up their wounds at least twice, and even saved their lives, was responsible for basically this entire ordeal.  
"Henry..." he said, suddenly realizing something, "what happened...um, y'know, how did you get...like, your cybernetics in the first place ?"

\--------

" . . . I'm.... not completely sure, Charles. "  
Henry rested his head on top of his, opting to wrap his arms around him. He really didn't know, but... he really didn't want to remember.  
" I'm not sure if I want to know. It may not really be me. What if... "  
His hand curled in his hair.  
" What if.. this is all fake. What if this is all faked in my head. This being some... timeline she talked about. "  
His knees bucked, but he still held onto Charles, his blind eye tearing up.  
" I don't want to lose you. I already did, not again. Never again. "

\--------

Charles held onto Henry, not letting him fall. Henry having this mental breakdown made him feel terrible, he got so emotional he also teared up.

"You know what, it doesn't matter... what matters is now. We're gonna be okay," he said softly, "and who, um, who you are now, is the man I'm in love with, okay? So don't worry, I'm not going anywhere..."

And you know what, this time, he really meant it.

\--------

Henry sniffed, repositioning his legs so they would have more stability, and looked at Charles, still crying.  
" I... I really don't deserve you... but, I'm happy I have you... "  
He leaned in, paused, then pushed forward, crashing his lips onto Charles's own. He really did love him. He knew that. 

. . Fuck these timelines. Fuck the memories. Fuck everything. He was here, he wanted to stay here. In his arms. For the rest of his life. For the rest of Charles's life. Till the end of time.

-=+ Ending Unlocked : Timeline Stabilized +=-


End file.
